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Author
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Comment
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yellowie911
Unregistered User
(1/25/04 7:39 am)
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Looking for fairy tales involving gender roles...
I am currently looking for fairy tales which depicts any gender role....there are just too many fairy tales for me to go through one by one to look for the right one...therefor i hope all of u can help me by telling me any fairy tale which you think is what i may be looking for....thank you...
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Helen
Registered User
(1/25/04 12:58 pm)
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Any particulars?
In nearly any fairy tale, you could argue for the gendering of one or all of the characters, depending on what kind of a reading you wanted to perform: if you want to argue for the subjugation of women, you might look at versions of Cinderella that remove that character's self-sufficiency (conversely, if you want to argue for the independence and ingenuity of women, you might *also* look at Cinderella, albeit at differnt versions, or even at the same versions through a different lens ... check out Jane Yolen's wonderful essay "Once Upon a Time" in her collection _TOuch Magic_ for an examination of this character's shifts through the ages). You could do much the same with Snow White, with the Little Mermaid (see the thread below), with, well, any and all of them. Think of what the ubiquitous figure of the "step-mother" says about older or independent women: consider the role of the helpless or predatory father in many tales. Examine the figure of the prince, and what demands that archetype makes of masculinity ... and when one of them catches your fancy, come back to discuss!
Best,
Helen
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flyingmonkeys
Unregistered User
(2/20/04 9:34 am)
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Masculinity in Cinderella
There is a good book called Fairy tales, sexuality, and gender in France, 1690-1715. I was wondering if anyone new how a could find more information about how the masculinity is portrayed in Cinderella and how it has changed since the feminist movement.
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(2/21/04 4:49 pm)
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Re: Masculinity in Cinderella
For the subject of gender roles in fairy tales, From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers by Marina Warner is very useful, if you haven't read it already. An excellent place to to gain true understanding of the history of the tales, particularly as they relate to women.
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tradewindbooks
Registered User
(3/21/04 5:54 pm)
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Gender Roles
Look at "The Sea King" by Jane Yolen and Shulamith Oppenheim. Also "The Girl Who Lost Her Smile" by Karim Alrawi.
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aj
Unregistered User
(4/1/04 12:33 pm)
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tales
try "Undine" by Foque
look at how marriage effects the mermaid's nature
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Nalo
Registered User
(4/1/04 3:17 pm)
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Re: tales
There's an African folk tale I love, that I believe was collected by Angela Carter. Perhaps the collective wisdom on this board will recognise it and give more detail. In the story, a man commands his wife to go hunting for meat for their dinner. This is a man's job, but she doesn't complain. She simply says, "yes, husband," then promptly changes into a lion. Husband takes one look at her and hies himself up a tree. She sweetly asks him what he's doing way up there. He points out that she's changed into a ferocious carnivore. She replies that it's the best way to go hunting for meat. He begs her to change back into a human woman. She asks whether, if she obeys, he'll go about his job of hunting and leave the woman's work to her. He agrees. She turns back into a woman and he goes hunting.
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ARTSFAN
(4/1/04 6:42 pm)
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Food for Thought
Think of all the male characters who are victimized in various tales. Cinderella's father in "Cinderella", The prince in "Rapunzel", the prince in "The Little Mermaid", Beauty's father in "Beauty and the Beast", etc. How are they victimized? Physically? Emotionally? And who comes to their rescue? In many of these stories, the saving grace is a female. So you could have a good arguement either way. Although Sleeping Beauty needs the prince to awaken her, the prince needs the Little Mermaid to rescue him from drowning. And while Snow White is saved by the prince (indirectly I might add), the Beast is saved from his curse by Beauty.
Also, look at all the tales in which gender works against same gender (male vs. male, female vs. female), and the reasons (personal gain, jealousy, charity, etc.). The Beast wants the Merchant punished by death after one of his roses are stolen, The Queen wants Snow White killed so she can be the most beautiful, The Witch wants Rapunzel all to herself so she keeps her trapped in a tower against her will. If analyzed, what are the results? Is the hermit-like Beast reacting not only to the Merchant who angered him, but also to the outside world (a world that would scorn and ridicule him for his looks, despite his hospitable nature?)? Does the Queen want to be the "fairest in the land" for herself or for others; to satisfy her own vanity, or to gain the desire of men by being more beautiful than other women? And does the Witch become angry with Rapunzel at the Prince's visits because she was disobeyed, or because she wants to drown out the outside world (once again, a world that would not accept her), and keep her one and only companion to herself?
Edited by: ARTSFAN at: 4/1/04 10:57 pm
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/2/04 9:02 am)
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How about gender and age, types and counter-types
One of the interesting things I like about fairy tales and gender is that they tend to be striated into character types by the age of the character so that by the time our ingenue is middle aged, her character changes, i.e. kings are tired and young men are idealistic, aggressive or weak. What I might look for is gender roles that go against age types. In order to do this, you must first determine the types and then find the examples that counter them. Do you see any transitional character types - young going to middle age? Middle age to old age? What does that tell you about the societal values in which these tales were told? What about these characters are "universal" of the age of the character? How does "magic" hide or subvert the expectations of the reader based on the putative character age (think the aged peddler woman who is really a beautiful (young?) fairy)?
Jess
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