Almost every child knows the name Disney. Many of us grew up with his animations; which educated and entertained us throughout the years. Disney casted his own spell on fairy tales and animations which changed the original stories. Jack Zipes gives us a peek into the life of Disney, and how he affected fairy tales through his essay: "Breaking the Disney Spell." Zipes wrote that Disney tried to subvert from the image of women as being pretty ornaments who belong at home, waiting for the prince. He attempted this by creating films with mostly female heroines. Zipes also explained that Disney did not celebrate the female domestication like original versions. But i would say that Disney still up held these female gender norms through his animations. If we think about Cinderella and Snow White, they were both beautiful women who had to do a bunch of house chores. The beauty of these women also resulted in a happy ending where the prince usually comes to rescue them. The princesses are usually weak and refrain from bold actions. They are supposed to behave and cower under the evil villains until the prince's bravery frees them from their boring lives. It shows how strong gender norms can be since the image of women lasted from the original authors to a modern man like Disney. And since Disney is so widely spread, he is casting his spell on all of us.
When you hear "Snow White," I'm sure that many of you think of
mainly three things: beautiful girl, poisoned apple, seven little men. But many
of us might not noticed subtle patterns that the authors placed within the
story. Such as, how these authors are portraying women in fairy tales.
"Little Snow White" is a story written by the Grimm brothers. They
depict Snow White as the most beautiful girl in the world. It is an image of
womanhood that is present in many fairy tales. The female character is so beautiful
that it attracts unwanted and wanted attention from others. Many times it leads
to a happy ending with a handsome rich prince. In "Little Snow
White," Snow upholds the expectations that women are supposed to stay at
home cooking and cleaning; while the men go out to work. This is shown when the
dwarfs expected her to take care of what needs to be done in the house by the
time they get home. Women are pretty little things that are supposed to be
prizes for the men. They take care of the men by preparing food and cleaning
the house. However, the men look more superior for protecting and providing
money for the women. Snow's beauty saved her from the Huntsmen, gave her
shelter with the dwarfs, and rewarded her with the love struck prince. This
image of beauty, along with the expectations of always being beautiful and staying home
links Snow White to the stereotypical female gender roles.
