What does a girl have to do to find her Prince? According to most classic fairy tales, looking beautiful and being quiet. When examining these tales, there are certain recurring themes of what a ‘good girl’ should be like. As time and society moves forward, the issue of feminism and fairy tales have gained more attention. One essay that discusses these issues is ““Some Day My Prince Will Come”: Female Acculturation Through the Fairy Tale” by Marcia R. Lieberman. Lieberman uses many pieces of evidence to demonstrate the lack of feminism in fairy tales. In relation to Lieberman’s essay, Vanessa Joosen wrote “Fairy-tale Retellings between Art and Pedagogy”. Joosen uses Lieberman’s arguments and an adaptation titled “Sleeping Ugly”, by Jane Yolen, to show that
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One of the big factors is that “Girls win the prize if they are the fairest of them all; boys win if they are bold, active, and lucky” (Lieberman 385). This can be seen in Snow White as after the eats the poisoned apple, she “lies in a death-like sleep, her beauty only visible through her glass coffin, until a prince comes along and falls in love with her” (Lieberman 388). Moreover, fairy tales convey that “women in distress are interesting” (Lieberman 390) and they cannot be rescued by themselves because they have to wait for a man to come along. Any women with power of their own is older, wicked, and uaually play the roles of non-human characters such as “witches, trolls or Ogresses” (Lieberman 391). This gives children the idea that women who are ambitious and active never have a good personality. Overall, “what is praiseworthy in males, however, is rejected in females; the counterpart of the energetic aspiring boy is the scheming, ambitious woman” (Lieberman
One of the big factors is that “Girls win the prize if they are the fairest of them all; boys win if they are bold, active, and lucky” (Lieberman 385). This can be seen in Snow White as after the eats the poisoned apple, she “lies in a death-like sleep, her beauty only visible through her glass coffin, until a prince comes along and falls in love with her” (Lieberman 388). Moreover, fairy tales convey that “women in distress are interesting” (Lieberman 390) and they cannot be rescued by themselves because they have to wait for a man to come along. Any women with power of their own is older, wicked, and uaually play the roles of non-human characters such as “witches, trolls or Ogresses” (Lieberman 391). This gives children the idea that women who are ambitious and active never have a good personality. Overall, “what is praiseworthy in males, however, is rejected in females; the counterpart of the energetic aspiring boy is the scheming, ambitious woman” (Lieberman