Imagine days where women could not be lazy. They could not roll out of bed minutes before they were supposed to go somewhere, throw their hair in a messy bun, dab on a little mascara, and call it a day. Instead, women were expected to be fully dressed in a dress, stockings, and high heels with a full face of makeup - face cream, primer, concealer, foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, blush, lipstick - so they could spend the entire day at home preparing for their husband and children to come home. This was the case for most women during the 1950s - a time when men were the breadwinners and women spent hours of their time looking their best without traveling anywhere. Fast forward about half a decade and women are still defying and fighting
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With the help of contemporary media, women are finding better role models to teach them and their children that women can be independent. In the television show, Once Upon a Time, the novel series, The Lunar Chronicles, and the movie, Shrek, women have gained power and are not as dependent on men to save them; however, Shrek’s female protagonist, Fiona, most clearly defies the gender expectations.
In Mark Mylod’s television series, Once Upon a Time, the characters of Emma Swan and Regina Mills are portrayed as powerful women and defy some gender expectations by exhibiting the qualities of independence and autonomy from their male counterparts. Swan is a “woman who trusts no one” and has learned to survive on her own guile and gumption. Mills is “conniving” and “manipulative” (Cross). Neither woman looks to a man to help them solve their problems; they face their problems head on with confidence. Both of these characters are …show more content…
Meyer includes not one but four characters who each demonstrate a unique ability to survive in the war-trodden world they live in. Throughout the series, Meyer introduces characters who play integral parts in the culmination of the series: “Cinder…[is] a halfcyborb mechanic….Scarlet’s grandmother…[is] a military pilot veteran….Cress…[is] a hacker…(White). Reimagined as new kind of hero, each one rejects the title of “damsel-in-distress” and gives every skillset they have to help the cause. Cinder’s character, based off of Cinderella, does not wait for her fairy godmother to give her a dress to go to a ball; instead, she gets dirty and grimy trying to save her country from a nefarious queen. Scarlet’s grandmother, based off of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother, does not lay in bed almost as if waiting to be devoured by a predator; rather, she sacrifices her life in order to protect an innocent child from succumbing to a similar fate. Cress, based off of Rapunzel, does not sit around waiting for her prince to rescue her; instead, she chooses to become an active participant in her rescue and uses her hacking skills to protect people she cares about. Each of these women serve as reminders that “even the meek and downtrodden can overcome their circumstances and rise above the unfairness and cruelty
With the help of contemporary media, women are finding better role models to teach them and their children that women can be independent. In the television show, Once Upon a Time, the novel series, The Lunar Chronicles, and the movie, Shrek, women have gained power and are not as dependent on men to save them; however, Shrek’s female protagonist, Fiona, most clearly defies the gender expectations.
In Mark Mylod’s television series, Once Upon a Time, the characters of Emma Swan and Regina Mills are portrayed as powerful women and defy some gender expectations by exhibiting the qualities of independence and autonomy from their male counterparts. Swan is a “woman who trusts no one” and has learned to survive on her own guile and gumption. Mills is “conniving” and “manipulative” (Cross). Neither woman looks to a man to help them solve their problems; they face their problems head on with confidence. Both of these characters are …show more content…
Meyer includes not one but four characters who each demonstrate a unique ability to survive in the war-trodden world they live in. Throughout the series, Meyer introduces characters who play integral parts in the culmination of the series: “Cinder…[is] a halfcyborb mechanic….Scarlet’s grandmother…[is] a military pilot veteran….Cress…[is] a hacker…(White). Reimagined as new kind of hero, each one rejects the title of “damsel-in-distress” and gives every skillset they have to help the cause. Cinder’s character, based off of Cinderella, does not wait for her fairy godmother to give her a dress to go to a ball; instead, she gets dirty and grimy trying to save her country from a nefarious queen. Scarlet’s grandmother, based off of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother, does not lay in bed almost as if waiting to be devoured by a predator; rather, she sacrifices her life in order to protect an innocent child from succumbing to a similar fate. Cress, based off of Rapunzel, does not sit around waiting for her prince to rescue her; instead, she chooses to become an active participant in her rescue and uses her hacking skills to protect people she cares about. Each of these women serve as reminders that “even the meek and downtrodden can overcome their circumstances and rise above the unfairness and cruelty