Project Proposal: Fairytales and the Place of Women

Topic: Fairytles and the place and roles of women, paying close attention to things such as competition, sexual roles including projection, competition among women and the roles men place on them as well.

The Glass Slipper:
An Examination of Women's Roles, Sexuality and Gender Hindrance In Children's Literature

Objective
To examine symbolism found in stories such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty
Examine the roles of women through out the stories and what they represent.
Connect the stories to today’s needs and society.
Highlight the negative aspects of Fairytales and their affect on children as well as their self image.
Discuss how the process of revision has both helped and hurt fairytales.
Examine all three fairytales and compare their modern versions to their classical versions.

Cinderella: The Flawed Archetype:

Cinderella is cited as more beautiful than her step sisters, this adds the idea of immediate jealousy. Beauty has become a commodity and an enviable attribute. In a society like todays it is totally acceptable to misjudge and mistreat others if they are not considered physically attractive.
Cinderella is dressed in rags and forced to do house work. Domestication has always been linked with women; however when several women are forcing one woman to do house work it can be seen as an unintended role reversal. The power dynamic has shifted. Also there is the issue of suppression of others in order to build ones self.
Remaining pious, sweet and passive means you will eventually find happiness. It seems a it far fetched but the same argument can be applied to domestic violence victims. Some things don’t just dissipate and get better over time. Perhaps if we removed the aspect of the prince and her marriage to the prince saving her from her life with her stepmother Cinderella may have very well been doomed to serve her step sisters and stepmother for the rest of her life. There is too much of an emphasis being placed on a man saving a woman.

No real parental guidance in the story. In the Disney version her father is dead and she is living with her step mother and two sisters. Her step mother discards her and treats her like a house maid, her only concern her own daughters and social advancement.

Snow White: Chocking on The Apple

An extremist view of Snow White living with the seven dwarfs, is the idea of living with seven men, even if they are Dwarfs it is implied that there is an unhealthy attachment and relationship going on.
Snow White is in completion with her mother, in the Disney version instead of cutting out her liver and kidneys the queen asks for her heart. Symbolically her wanting her daughters heart may represent her wanting to take her place. The Italian version according to the text Snow White was originally The Girl of Blood and Milk. Keeping this in mind it is arguable that her mother could be using her internal organs as a source of nourishment.

The Prince rescues Snow White with a kiss but in the Grimm’s version the Apple is dislodged from her throat and she wakes up. The Prince is also overwhelmed by her beauty he falls in love with her. Other versions of this story include Sun Moon and Thalia and Briar Rose
Snow White keeps house for the Dwarfs. This domesticates her.
The Queens transformation into an old woman is seen as menacing because she intends to poison Snow White. She is an older woman, more knowledgeable, because of this she is seen as a threat. Older women are portrayed as scary and unattractive because they are already aware of who they are. Intelligence is frightening.
Symbolically, concerning the bible apples represent temptation and the beginning of the fall of human kind.

Note: This is all part of a Power Point presentation I have been working on I am hoping this illustrates my outline well. This is everything I have so far.