A working definition of Folklore is the stories, legends, and tales of a specific culture. They can be seen in every civilization be it Greek, Roman, German, or otherwise; each creating tales that help to explain the unexplainable and represent ideals of said culture. Often times in these tales, women are seen as inferior and more likely to fall to vice. This trend can be seen in folklore across the world; Women are denigrated in various folktales for reasons to be discussed especially in European fairy tales.
In order to properly discuss women in folklore, basic background must be discussed. The beginning of any folklore is the creator stories and their gods. These stories focus on “their orientation to the creative forces of nature, and the …show more content…
As a side note, the process of giving a bride away at her wedding is because before modern times, women were considered to be the property of her father and must be “given” to her groom at their wedding. This idea of the heroine who needs to be saved gives way to the Savior; the knight in shining armor so to speak. Many of these fairy tales seem to say that woman must and need to be saved by men because they are incapable of doing it themselves. With all of that information in hand, the question must be posed; why are these fairy tales that degrade women so immensely popular among …show more content…
This led to the condemnation of all women as temptresses and liars for banishing man from paradise. This stigma has affected women around the globe and for countless generations due to its prevalence throughout the world at large. Women are viewed as “abject- that is, whatever is deemed polluted, dirty, or sinful” (Lawless 239). This concept of women being inferior is by no way a new idea; it has been cemented by the fact that women have “an inferior position in nearly all cultures” (Lawless 239). Folklore such as religious stories portrays women as abject figures, which in turn cause societies, who adhere to that religion to condemn women as second-class members of that culture. This type of outlook only seeks to downgrade females as a whole and undermines their attempts to pursue their own goals and aspirations. In fact, in traditional Jewish Folklore, “Adam’s first wife Lilith is depicted as independent, strong, and demanding. She and Adam had evidently already discovered the act of sexual intercourse, but Lilith refused to allow Adam to dominate her in the so-called ‘missionary position’ and insisted that she, too, should be able to hold that position. Apparently, both Adam and god were furious with Lilith for her insubordination, so God banished her” (Lawless 242). This demonstrates the punishment for a woman attempting to assert power in a misogynistic world, not only does man condemn her as does their creator and Supreme Being. Though not
In order to properly discuss women in folklore, basic background must be discussed. The beginning of any folklore is the creator stories and their gods. These stories focus on “their orientation to the creative forces of nature, and the …show more content…
As a side note, the process of giving a bride away at her wedding is because before modern times, women were considered to be the property of her father and must be “given” to her groom at their wedding. This idea of the heroine who needs to be saved gives way to the Savior; the knight in shining armor so to speak. Many of these fairy tales seem to say that woman must and need to be saved by men because they are incapable of doing it themselves. With all of that information in hand, the question must be posed; why are these fairy tales that degrade women so immensely popular among …show more content…
This led to the condemnation of all women as temptresses and liars for banishing man from paradise. This stigma has affected women around the globe and for countless generations due to its prevalence throughout the world at large. Women are viewed as “abject- that is, whatever is deemed polluted, dirty, or sinful” (Lawless 239). This concept of women being inferior is by no way a new idea; it has been cemented by the fact that women have “an inferior position in nearly all cultures” (Lawless 239). Folklore such as religious stories portrays women as abject figures, which in turn cause societies, who adhere to that religion to condemn women as second-class members of that culture. This type of outlook only seeks to downgrade females as a whole and undermines their attempts to pursue their own goals and aspirations. In fact, in traditional Jewish Folklore, “Adam’s first wife Lilith is depicted as independent, strong, and demanding. She and Adam had evidently already discovered the act of sexual intercourse, but Lilith refused to allow Adam to dominate her in the so-called ‘missionary position’ and insisted that she, too, should be able to hold that position. Apparently, both Adam and god were furious with Lilith for her insubordination, so God banished her” (Lawless 242). This demonstrates the punishment for a woman attempting to assert power in a misogynistic world, not only does man condemn her as does their creator and Supreme Being. Though not