Feminist Readings
Feminist readings of a story try to highlight the portrayal
of women or girls and how this reinforces stereotypes of female behaviour.
In fairytales women tend to be portrayed in one of four
fairly standard ways which automatically limits the freedom of female
characters:
- The
beautiful and obedient daughter
- The
mother / wife / caregiver
- The
mad / bad / wicked woman
- The
passionate / sexual / unchaste woman
Additional common traits that can be applied to female
characters are:
- Their
passivity and helplessness – they need to be rescued
- They
are punished if they break the rules
- Success
is portrayed as achieving a marriage with the richest / most important man
available
Some examples:
Cinderella:
- She
is patient and obedient despite suffering horrible mistreatment by the
Ugly Sisters. She does not rebel when anyone with half a backbone would
have and is rewarded for this by marriage to the Prince
- Cinderella’s
role is the typical female role of home-maker and cleaner
- She
has to leave the Ball before midnight otherwise her dress will return to
rags – a clear example that good girls shouldn’t stay out too late!
- She
has no choice in her marriage – the prince declares he will marry
whomsoever the shoe fits. She has no say!
- Cinders
simply cannot go to the ball in her rags. She has to have an elegant ballgown.
- The
shoe is slender – because being thin is just as important as being pretty
- She
cannot rescue herself – she needs the fairy godmother
- The
fairy godmother doesn’t actually do anything herself – she needs magic
- Women
– the wicked stepmother and ugly sisters – are the source of evil
- Ugliness
/ unfemininity is equated with evil – which is
why the stepsisters are often played by men in pantomime versions of the
fairytales
Snow White:
- Snow
is the perfect passive woman who is asleep for half the tale until the
prince kisses her and wakes her up
- The
prince does not have to ask to kiss her. This would result in a nasty
court case in today’s society but Snow is grateful for his presumption
- Snow
is the ‘fairest of them all’ signaling that simply being beautiful is not
enough but that you have to be the most beautiful
- Snow’s
role in the dwarves home is again home-maker and cleaner
- The
source of evil is female in two ways. The queen who is jealous of Snow’s
beauty and Snow White’s own foolishness for opening the door
Little Red Riding Hood:
- Red
is fulfilling a dutiful daughter role by taking food to her sick
grandmother
- She
is punished with near death for taking a shortcut through the woods
despite being told explicitly not to
- The
exploratory nature of Red’s journey through the woods and the fact that
the wolf asks her over towards the bed in the cottage are often
interpreted as Red exploring her developing sexuality. However, we all
know that good girls are chaste and essentially sex less – in no fairy
tale ever do we see the characters indulge in more than a
closed mouth kiss on the lips – so Red’s near death experience is another
lesson in chastity for young girls: avoid wolves in bed!