Every kid grows up knowing at least one or two fairy tales which are love stories of princesses and their charming prince with a “happily ever after” ending. Fairy tales, with a fantastic world of fairies, princes, goblins, elves, giants, trolls and witches, are dreams personified for children. If somebody mentions the words, “Cinderella” would be the first thing that pops up in most people’s mind because it is too popular and common to everyone. However, it accidentally helped to create an ideology of gender roles, impacted a child’s mind and get entrenched in the social psyche of generations. If studied closely, one can, controvertibly, claim that fairy tales have promulgated and reinforced stereotypical gender roles through a presentation of socially suitable male-female relationships. As readers notice in most of the fairytales, the female roles are silent, industrious and cannot even decide what to do with her own life, while male models destined to seek out adventures and became heroes. After reading the three texts: an article called “Women Are Household Slaves” by Edith Stern, a book titled Language, Gender and Children's Fiction written by Jane Sunderland, Linda Parson’s article “Cinderella Stories and the Construction of Gender-Appropriate Behavior,” the audience will interpret the fairytale in a different way.
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In “Cinderella”, Perrault reinforced the traditional general roles by equating a “good woman” of the seventeenth century with one who is obedient, passive, attractive, and appears to be a perfect
In “Cinderella”, Perrault reinforced the traditional general roles by equating a “good woman” of the seventeenth century with one who is obedient, passive, attractive, and appears to be a perfect