Onceuponatime: Gender Roles In Fairy Tales

At an early age, children become very engaged in the literature that they read. Fairy tales are one such genre that children read at some point in their childhood. Fairy tales allow children to immerse themselves in the world that the story portrays while also enhancing their imagination. However, fairy tales could be significantly influential on their mindset. It can give them a false interpretation on how gender roles are represented in society. Andrea Dworkin explores this topic further in her article, “Onceuponatime: The Roles.” In Andrea Dworkin’s article she argues that in our current society, gender roles are plagued by fairy tales that set unrealistic standards for both sexes to follow. Children’s minds can be easily manipulated by

While they can attempt to be different, they will not have much success doing so. Andrea asserts, “Grown men are terrified of the wicked witch, internalized in the deepest parts of memory. Women are no less terrified, for we know that not to be passive, innocent, and helpless is to be actively evil.” Andrea illustrates the consequences of being different. Women are not expected to behave the same way as men. She cannot give orders to others; she must obey orders given by the opposite sex. Women are not powerful, they are pacifists and are innocent. When a woman behaves the complete opposite, fear arises as men want to be the only ones in charge. Men see these women as evil and rebellious, not adapting to their gender-specific lifestyle. Women are also fearful of becoming evil. They are very cautious in the actions they perform as they do not want to be regarded as evil. The duties women should follow as seen in the fairy tale Snow White are as follows, “...you will keep our house for us, and cook, and wash, and make the beds, and sew and knit, and keep everything tidy and clean.” As demonstrated by the quote, women and men have distinguishable roles. Women are expected to be a housewife, nothing more, nothing less. They cook for others, wash and clean the house. This idea generates the stereotypes that are seen in today’s world. Men are typically the

It is written in the 1970s and since then many modern fairy tales have appeared. Andrea clings onto old works of literature such as Rapunzel and Snow White to prove her point. She argues, “Fairy tales are the primary information of the culture.” Her point is only valid at the time it was written, and it is not true in today’s society. The gap between gender roles has since gotten much smaller as many women are doing jobs similar to men. Men are no longer the breadwinners as women now have the opportunity to make as much money as them. No one is ridiculed as often as before for being inferior. Furthermore, Andrea also assumes that fairy tales impact the child’s beliefs and mindset heavily by emphasizing that, “They are our childhood models, and their fearful, dreadful content terrorizes us into submission…” There are multiple factors that influence a child’s beliefs such as the environment around them, their parents, or other influential figures. Nonetheless, Andrea is justified because while Snow White and Rapunzel may be old works of literature, they are still read by millions of children. Society may have progressed in the sense that the differences in gender roles are getting smaller, the predetermined gender roles plagued by fairy tales still exists. If the plague ceased to exist, we would all possibly live in an idealistic world.