Reflections on Fairy Tales: Then and Now

English 102 has been extremely thought provoking as we have studied fairy tales and how they have influenced our lives. I never knew how deeply important and influential fairy tales have been to our society until now. I also did not realize how old many of our fairy tales really are and that they began by being spread orally long before being written down. We think of fairy tales as being frivolous and fanciful, until we really look closely at their structure and messages. For example, Little Red Riding Hood in its earliest forms had some strong sexual suggestiveness with its use of characters and action--a pretty little virgin girl wears a red riding hood and walks innocently through the forest. The big bad wolf, perhaps representing male sexuality and lust, talks to the girl and discovers where she is going. It is very easy for him to trick her by pretending to be grandma and he is then able to overpower her. The language and strip tease in one version suggested sexual desire and that little red was willing to submit to his requests and explore her own sexuality. The wolf, however, still gobbles her up. Was this a warning story that women told to little girls so that they would not wander in the woods? Or did it have the deeper meaning of teaching young girls to be careful about submitting to the lust of big bad men?
The old version of Cinderella certainly had a strong message and used some violence to get the message across. The mean step sisters actually mutilate their feet to try to fit them in the slipper and still they do not end up getting the prince. In fact, they get their eyes pecked out by Cinderella's birds. The message for girls is pretty clear in those days: if you are good and patient and meek, you will succeed and get a prince. If you are bad or aggressive you will end up mutilated and miserable. The Disney version of our time does not mutilate the mean step sisters, but the message is still the same--women should be sweet and gentle and humble and passive. Oh, and they should also be beautiful. As a matter of fact, most of the female love interests in fairy tales, both then and now, are beautiful. Even Bluebeard who was considered physically unattractive had to have a beautiful wife. He was able to attract a pretty girl because he was wealthy and powerful. Unfortunately, he killed all his wives. I would think that the Bluebeard story is a warning to women that you better not go after a man just because he is wealthy --kind of an anti-golddigger story. But apparently back then, it was a warning for women not to be overly curious!
That is the amazing thing about fairy tales---they can have different morals and messages depending on the culture and times in which they are read. They can also have different messages for different people's lives. For example, Beauty and the Beast may tell one person that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It may say to another person that if you are good and obedient to your father you will end up with riches and a handsome prince. If you watch the Disney version closely, it may tell you to avoid Beasts at all costs because he was quite abusive toward Belle in the beginning and women should not try to "rescue" abusive men. But to another woman, it might have been a beautiful love story that made her want to go out and find a beast to rescue.
I could go on and on about the various messages and interesting look into humanity that are in fairy tales. I mainly want to say that I will now look at fairy tales differently--both the old tales and the new Disney versions. I will receive them with my eyes more opened and my mind prepared to ask more questions. I will look deeper for the more subtle meanings in them and how they might affect my life. I will realize that the stories can have different meanings for different people but that this does not make any one way of thinking about them right or wrong. I can now more fully appreciate the unique stories that we know as "fairy tales."

The Eye of the Beholder--Best One Yet!

I hope you are feeling better!! Maybe this will help...

Okay I have saved the best one for the last week. Please watch this video clip from Saturday Night Live. (There may be a ten second commercial at the beginning--I didn't know any way to fix that.) http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/beauty-and-the-beast/1167711/

This is the clip I hoped to show to the class but the semester became so busy and flew by. I loved this clip because it is very funny, but I think it also offers a deeper meaning that relates to part of what we talked about this semester. Who really is the beast? The fairy tales teach us that the character who does not live up to society's standards of physical attractiveness is a beast. Disney really furthers this belief by making all of its Princesses fit a predetermined standard of beauty, like we have discussed in class. The "beautiful" princesses are all very skinny, have long flowing hair, perfect skin, big doe eyes, and tiny little features. They also quite often have large breasts and low-cut tops. But in the SNL clip, the beast is not satisfied with the woman's looks and says, "Oh my darling, I can hardly wait for your transformation!" The look she gives him is priceless. He thinks that she is the beast, and she thinks that he's the beast. Since she is adhering to Disney's definition of beautiful, she can't believe that he thought she was the beast. I think SNL is making fun of Disney and their stereotypical princesses when the beast says, "Well, you're very slender and I like a big ol' ass." It's wonderful. I think most men agree with the beast on this subject, but our society tries to brainwash us all into thinking that women need to look like a Victoria's Secret model and be tall, thin, and busty. Who are we to say who is a beauty and who is a beast? We all look very different and should love and accept each other however we are. I'm working on this, too, and do not mean to suggest that I have arrived at a state of perfect love for all people, or anything like that. I admit I have alot of trouble with tongue rings--they tend to gross me out. But I can see that many people in the young generation think they are super attractive. Like the beast quoted in this SNL clip, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." 'Tis very true!

One More Observation from Presentations Regarding Women's Roles

Matt showed one of my favorite clips during his presentation. It was the scene from the movie "Enchanted" where she is cleaning up the guy's apartment with the help of all the little animals. I love this scene because it is such an excellent parody of the Disney Cinderella who calls upon the mice and little birds to help her with her chores and help her get dressed. In this scene, she summons the little animals to help her and since she is in the big city now, rats and pigeons and cockroaches come to help her. They do a great job of helping her clean and it is just hilarious. But Matt brought out some points I never thought about before. He was mentioning how happy the girl appears while she is cleaning up someone else's mess, and specifically, how comfortable and undaunted she is at having to pull a nasty hairball out of the tub drain. I think this is a good point and so true of our society. Women are still expected to do these nasty chores of cleaning up after other people much more often than men are expected to do the same type of chores. We are not expected to be singing a happy tune and wearing a pretty dress, but for the most part, I think women are still the ones who take care of the nasty jobs around the house. I hope I am wrong and there are many more homes where the men clean the toilets and wash the dirty dishes. To show that things have changed for the better in this area, here's a clip from an old tv show that I'm pretty sure you would not see on a show today:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq_9wu-KjTk
The son is asking his father why his mom does all the cooking inside and his dad does the cooking outside on the grill. The father in this clip actually says, "They say a woman's place is in the home...as long as she's in the home she might as well be in the kitchen." Then he goes on to explain that "men are better at this rugged type of outdoor cooking--sort of a throw-back to caveman days..." Well, I agree with him there; he is acting like someone who came from the caveman days. I don't think women are defined by their role being in the home any longer. Matt had a good point though, that we shouldn't make it seem like nasty chores are "women's work" and she should be happy with it!

Womens' Work Roles: Fairy Tales and Beyond

The women in fairy tales stories don't usually do much other than cleaning, cooking, and trying to look good to attract a prince. Cinderella cooked and cleaned the house; Donkeyskin got a job working in a kitchen; Snow White cleaned and baked for the dwarves; Little Red Riding Hood's mother baked and and took care of Granny; Beauty got up at 4:00 in the morning and "started cleaning the house and preparing breakfast for the family" (De Beaumont 33). These activities were very normal and perfectly right for the time periods in which these tales were told and written down. The women were fulfilling their womanly roles. What about the roles of women today? Have they changed? Thank goodness, I think this is an area of women's lives that has changed. It is not at all unusual for a woman to work outside the home and to have a full-time career. Look at this video clip from the 1950's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgGFzUS4tkg
The man says, "Just about an hour ago, I got you fired." When the woman looks shocked and asks why he did that, he responds with, "I figured that being my wife would take up all of your time." I guess this was his idea of a romantic marriage proposal. Never mind that it was sexist, domineering, and extremely rude. I don't think women of today would go for this kind of treatment. They would be furious, and probably cuss him out, or something worse. The woman of the 1950's actually smiles and accepts his proposal! She looks happy to think that she is going to be somebody's wife instead of working at whatever job that was that he got her fired from.
I don't think men of today would be stupid enough to try this approach. Getting someone fired from their job is not considered romantic or manly. This gives me hope that maybe some roles for women have progressed since the days of fairy tales. Women are able to work in various jobs that they want to pursue. However, I fear that women are still expected to do more than an equal share of housework, even if they work the same hours outside the home. Cooking and cleaning are still considered "women's work" and we need to continue changing this belief. Some couples share equally in the household chores, but I think many women are still doing more than their fair share. This takes me back to our discussions of those darned kitchen and cleaning toys that they are marketing to children. We need to give our little girls more choices as to the toys they play with! Baby dolls and fashion dolls and kitchens are all good toys, but maybe we can empower our girls to play with a variety of toys including toy work benches and remote control dinosaurs and science kits. Then they will think about other roles they could have when they grow up besides "housekeeper."

"Inappropriate Clothing" and A Double Standard

Several students in class did presentations about the different gender typing and gender roles portrayed in fairy tales. Chelsea showed how these male/female roles are depicted on the screen by use of dress, body type, and dialog. The male heroes are overly muscular, as we have all said before, but Chelsea also brought out the point that they are two-dimensional and do not have enough dialog to give them a real personality. The female characters in fairy tale based movies do seem to have more dialog and singing parts. It does seem that we get to "know" the female characters better and know more about their lives than the male characters. I guess you could say that the male figures are in a supporting role. Many times the heroes don't have much personality, they only have to be charming and high-ranking and able to save the princess from whatever bad situation she is in. The female characters have a more fully developed personality and also have a life history that the male characters often lack. However, as Chelsea said, they are depicted as beautiful and helpless, and wearing "inappropriate" clothing. I liked her use of the word "inappropriate" because it is true that the women often wear pretty gowns, even when they are cleaning. Cinderella actually did wear a plain dress and apron when she was cleaning the floors, but she still looked very pretty. As Matt pointed out during his presentation, she was surrounded by beautiful bubbles when she cleaned, rather than dirt or dust. But getting back to the "inappropriate" clothing, I've noticed that women in older tv shows such as "Leave It To Beaver" or "Brady Bunch" worked around their homes in snug dresses, jewelry, and heels. Their hair was always perfect and they never looked like they got dirty while cleaning. Notice in this clip from the opening of "Leave it to Beaver" that the mom is perfectly dressed and has on her make-up and jewelry, even though it must be early in the morning because she is handing out the lunch boxes to the kids before they go to school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZAR7Q28V9g
So she had to get up, do her hair and make-up, put on a nice dress, and make the kids lunches before they go out the door. She probably cooked breakfast for everyone too. This is, of course, a television program and the actors and actresses would be made to look their best, but it also gives women a false standard to live up to. I wonder how many women try to live up to the standard of looking pretty even while they work or do manual labor? Men certainly don't have such a standard. Men, both then and now, might wear nice suits if they work in an office, but they get to wear strong, sturdy, protective clothing such as bib overalls or jeans and a flannel shirt if they are doing some kind of "dirty work." We also don't expect them to stay clean while they are doing said work. You never see a man out working on his car in his garage, wearing a suit and tie, so why were women expected to wear dresses, (or gowns in the fairy tales) while they were working? It is another double standard! Men aren't expected to wear inappropriate clothing, and women shouldn't be expected to, either! Although this standard has changed somewhat since the 1950's, I think women are still expected to look pretty and clean no matter what they are doing. Many tv moms still look pretty good as they move around their houses. I don't have time for alot of tv, but there are a couple of shows that I saw on Wednesday nights that have tv moms. One is called "Modern Family" and one is called "Cougartown". In both of these, the moms look very pretty and very sexy, even while they are cooking or taking care of the kids in the house. Our fashion has changed--women no longer wear dresses all the time--but I don't think our (double) standards have changed! I think it is time that women in tv and movies get to be happy and have healthy relationships even while wearing comfortable and appropriate clothing.

A Princess We Can All Be Proud Of

Today's presentations on fairy tales and feminist issues were very well done. I was surprised to discover that someone other than me was a fan of Xena! I loved "Xena, Warrior Princess" and used to watch every episode. For this e-journal entry, I had a chance to stop and think why I (and Tish) and other women love Xena. I think she represents the strong woman that we all have inside us. Here's a clip to show some of what I will be talking about..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jm7ZK1KaMc&NR=1 Now I realize that Xena was a tough and sometimes mean warrior who killed people and that she was a made-up tv character, but I still think there are qualities to Xena that make most women admire her. For one thing, Xena was physically strong and athletic and could easily ward off men who were messing with her. Watching her fight several men at a time and best them was always a kick for me. Xena also was articulate and well-spoken. She didn't always say much, but when she did it was really important and made you want to listen. Her witty, sarcastic comments to men were always a treat as well. Xena also was fighting for a good cause and trying to do away with evil and help others. The compassion for others and willingness to fight for what she believed in always made her stand out as a true heroine. She was so different from the fairy tale princesses who need to be rescued and pretty much do nothing but look pretty. Xena did not need to be rescued by a man. Instead, she rescued others, including many men. As can be seen in the attached video clip, Xena could also do back flips, front flips, use a sword, shoot an arrow, ride a horse, and do a very cool warrior yell. Even with all her fighting skill and toughness, she was also very beautiful with her dark hair and blue eyes. They did give her a sexy outfit, but even when Xena was dirty and her hair messed up she still looked good. As women, we definitely admire Xena's strength, skill, and athleticism, but I think it was her courage, compassion, and heart that we admire most. Maybe there is a little bit of Xena in all of us.

More About Gender-Typing With Toys

I think Joseph said that he found in his research information saying that the driveable cars made for kids are made more powerful for the boys and less powerful for the girls. Could I possibly have heard him right? Surely this can't be true! That would be totally unfair if the little girl can't keep up with the little next-door-neighbor boy, and she would never know why. What about families that have twins or siblings close in age--one girl and one boy--who decide to race their new cars? The girl might think that she actually is not as good a driver as her brother and this could stay with her for life! Gendered toys are one thing, but this is totally ridiculous. The toy manufacturers need to know that little girls like to go just as fast as little boys. Their reaction time is just as quick as a boy's and they can handle the faster car. So, I was annoyed that the cars are usually made pink and purple for the girls while the boys get to have jazzy red, but if it is accurate that they are made with a power difference, then that is way beyond annoying. It's downright wrong!
Another interesting and somewhat scary point from the presentations was Megan's reading of the tiara box. I wish I could remember it enough to paraphrase what it said, but I just remember it was giving little girls the idea that if they wore the enclosed tiara they could be just like a princess and look beautiful. I think the ending said something about living happily ever after, also just like a princess. We should not be giving our girls the belief that the happiness and success of their lives depends upon their looks and whether or not they have the right accessories. It is fun for little girls to play dress-up, but I think we may be going overboard with the whole Disney princess image. The prices on those Disney princess dresses were outlandish--I noticed one that was priced at $89 and one was $149. How ridiculous to put that much money into playing dress-up. One can only imagine how much those princess bedrooms must cost, especially the one with the bed in a coach. It was very pretty but I don't think kids really need that stuff. They might be spoiled into thinking that their surroundings have to be that extravagant and fantasy-like. Then what will they do when they grow up and possibly can only afford a bedroom with a bed and a few pieces of furniture? The gender-typing where Disney products are concerned seems to be the worst offender. I like Disney movies as much as anyone, but I wish they would tone down the influx of princess paraphenalia. Of course, as long as parents keep buying it, Disney will keep producing it!