Fairy tales promote rigid gender roles through the repetitive use of characters that stay within the bounds of their respective gender appropriate behavior. This results in misconceptions about the possible paths each gender can take, specifically in children who view or read these narratives. Quite often children believe their gender is limited to the roles that are “approved” by society, which are reinforced by fairy tales and Disney films (Johnson 8). The typical gender roles for women are to stay at home and to either cook, clean, or sew while being beautiful and passive. On the flip side, the typical male gender roles are to go fight or hunt and to be in a dominant and powerful position. These gender roles exemplified in fairy tales are
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Fairy tales must reiterate this theme of pursuing your own interest no matter what society deems gender appropriate behavior. Mulan took it upon herself to accomplish her goal of honoring her family and through this action was able to illustrate women’s abilities to compete in typically masculine roles. While Mulan is a great representation of the path fairy tales should head towards there are few aspects that could be improved in order for children to accept that gender norms don’t dictate their lives. One aspect to correct is that Mulan is the only fairy tale that demonstrates the courageous departure from society’s gender ideals, but in order for the idea of gender equality to take hold this idea needs to be reiterated in multiple fairy tale narratives. Another aspect to improve upon is that Mulan was the only character in the tale to perform actions against the gender stereotyping and was not positively rewarded for her actions until the conclusion of the film. “Therefore, while the traditionally masculine traits increased for these princess characters, it was not necessarily presented as a positive characteristic of the princesses” (England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek 564). Mulan, while participating in more masculine roles, was concluded with her returning to family life and love which are generally seen as female roles in society, essentially undoing all the work she had previously accomplished (England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek 564). Children are often shown characters that are restricted by gender roles and stereotypes, but rarely are children ever shown a positive female character that deviates from gender appropriate behavior and is successful in staying that
Fairy tales must reiterate this theme of pursuing your own interest no matter what society deems gender appropriate behavior. Mulan took it upon herself to accomplish her goal of honoring her family and through this action was able to illustrate women’s abilities to compete in typically masculine roles. While Mulan is a great representation of the path fairy tales should head towards there are few aspects that could be improved in order for children to accept that gender norms don’t dictate their lives. One aspect to correct is that Mulan is the only fairy tale that demonstrates the courageous departure from society’s gender ideals, but in order for the idea of gender equality to take hold this idea needs to be reiterated in multiple fairy tale narratives. Another aspect to improve upon is that Mulan was the only character in the tale to perform actions against the gender stereotyping and was not positively rewarded for her actions until the conclusion of the film. “Therefore, while the traditionally masculine traits increased for these princess characters, it was not necessarily presented as a positive characteristic of the princesses” (England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek 564). Mulan, while participating in more masculine roles, was concluded with her returning to family life and love which are generally seen as female roles in society, essentially undoing all the work she had previously accomplished (England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek 564). Children are often shown characters that are restricted by gender roles and stereotypes, but rarely are children ever shown a positive female character that deviates from gender appropriate behavior and is successful in staying that