On a sheet of paper, list 5 fairy tales you remember from your youth. Put a star beside your favorite one(s). Then, for each of the fairy tales you listed, put the letter of the statement(s) which would be true about that fairy tale.
a. A woman's life story ends when she gets married. b. Men are active; women are passive. c. Only evil women go after what they want. d. Women are incapable of solving their own problems without help from men or supernatural beings. e. Men are often transformed by the love of a good woman. f. Women who venture too far from home generally get into trouble. g. Women are most appealing when they are sleeping or dead.
Please discuss with your classmates what you discovered from this activity.
I ended up having three fairy tales that I consider to be favorites. I have always been a fan of The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. This is not a surprise to me that the last two listed were favorites, they both are Disney classics.
After looking through the criteria to decide if it was true for my favorite fairy tales, I was a little surprised what I found. I never thought about this stuff before. I only thought that there was always a happy ending or the girl married a prince, in two of the tales.
With The Three Little Pigs, I deemed true that none of the statements fit this fairy tale. On the other hand, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty proved many of the statements true. I listed with Cinderella the statement letters; A,B,C,D,E and F. Also, Sleeping Beauty was A,B,C,E and G. I was shocked when almost all the letters appeared with each fairy tale.
What I discovered from this activity melted down into the fact that a fairy tale is not just a happy ending or the girl marrying a prince. There is underlying plots, appeals and motives, many more parts than I originally thought.
you actually picked two that I had initially chosen. I changed one of mine so there would be a variety on this post. I do believe fairytales can be very sexist. It doesn't surprise me at all the outcome of this post.
I have chosen three fairytales we all know and love: sleeping beauty, snow white and beauty and the beast.
beauty and the beast --a, d, e and f apply -- i guess the difference between mine and Mallory's assessment must be perception of the story.
Snow White --a, b, c, f and g
Sleeping Beauty -- a,b,c, and g
The funny thing about this assignment is that when my kids were little I did not let them watch the standard Disney movies. I think they are incredibly sexist. I have both a boy and a girl and don't want there to be any confusion in their minds as to the equal roles of men and women. New cartoons depict women in a much more progressive light such as The Incredibles and Monster vs Aliens both of these movies shined with equality of the sexes.
I can see where you can take into consideration that the Disney movies can be sexist. I can look on that know and understand where your are coming from in your blog. On the other hand, when I was little, I did not even know what sexist was and how it applies to anything.
I do agree that there are more movies coming out in the recent years that are more gender equal. In my opinion, kids just want to see action and happy endings.
I have chosen the three fairy tales; Cinderella, Little Mermaid, and Mulan. These were my favorite out of the five I picked. After answering the questions for these fairy tales it was shocking to see how they were relevent to the storied. For Cinderella I had all 6 letters; ABCDEF This is a classic story that almost every little girl will watch or read. It is disturbing to know what message it really portrays about woman. There are parts of the tale that Cinderella seems strong, but it is apparent by the questions that other things were very dominate over her. The next story was Little Mermaid. The letters I had were; ADEF Again, a story with male dominance. Although we do see some improvements with the female role. Arial is an independent girl with ideas of her own, but in the end it all depends on what the human man desires. The last and probably my favorite is Mulan. This is one of Disney's newer stories which makes sense why I have the least amount of letters for it. Only E and F. Mulan is a strong female who conquers so much on her own. She is looked at as strong becasue she poses as a male, but in the end is revealed and still seen and respected in the same light.
It is apparent from this activity that many fairy tales are sexiest, but I agree with Mallory that when we are young and hearing these stories we are not necessarily aware of sexism. The message is obviously indirect but I do feel that more modern stories, tales, and films portray a postive female image.
The fairy tales that I chose as my favorites from my childhood would be Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Three Little Pigs.
Little Red Riding Hood- F Cinderella- A, B, C, D, E, F Three Little Pigs- None really fit this
Cinderella was the only one of my fairy tales that fit most of the list. This fairy tale has been turned into a movie and is definitely a "feel good" movie for young girls. The other two are fairy tales that serve the purpose of sending a message to the reader.
I chose two of the same as you. Although I have looked at fairy tales and movies with these types of questions in mind. It is very interesting to see what movies and books are teaching children. I definitely agree with you on the underlying plots and motives. It is amazing to see how our society and culture influence these things.
When I went to take the test, I picked some classics fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Pocahontas, Lady and the Tramp, and the Lion King. Most of what I remember is from watching them as Disney movies as a child. I don’t remember being read the stories, most of my memory comes from Disney’s interpretation of the story. After I listed the top five that I could remember from my youth and put the letters beside the stories that they corresponded too, I started to laugh. I did notice that many of those sexist statements listed below could be used to describe the fairy tales. However, some of the stories were more equal in their representation of females in the story. I have never experienced an exercise like this and was a little surprised at the correlation that was trying to be made. However, I think you could easily turn those very same statements around and turn them into ones that portray women in a better light. You could take almost any story and twist it and turn it into something that represents something that it is not. I don’t really believe any of the fairy tale stories listed above are sexist in what they are trying to teach. A statement like, “A women’s life ends when she gets married” is being misrepresented for a few reasons. Number one, the man’s story ends the same time as the woman’s. Number two, most of the stories end with a happy ending, so I think this is not necessarily a bad thing. Number three, the fact that the story is ending can be interpreted many different ways. That can be thought of as a positive thing. It can be thought of as a negative thing, like don’t get married your life is over. It can also be thought of as what it really is, just the ending to the story. Any negative connotation that is placed upon the story ending when the woman gets married is purely manifested by the reader. Not the author’s intention. All in all, I think this exercise shows that you need to mix up what you teach young students. We should make sure that we show fairy tales of women and men succeeding in equal amounts. It is important for children who are growing up to understand that if they work hard, they have just as much right and ability to become successful as anyone else.
This is in response to Aly’s post. I did notice that the more modern the fairy tale was that I examined, the more it involved women in the story line and tried to portray them as equals to men. I think this goes to show that in today’s culture we are making an effort to equalize the roles of men and women. I think it is important to examine our history when looking at what these fairy tales portray too though. Women are usually not shown as fearless warriors, because throughout our history, men have done most of the fighting in wars. It is just common sense to think that a writer would pick a man as the role of a warrior in a movie, because that is how most of our history is. That is not to say that we have not had great female warriors, but the majority of them are men.
I believe I might have grown up in the same type of environment as you. I never read that many fairy tale books but watched several of the Disney movies, which were fairy tales.
I really enjoyed the statements you have made in your blog. I agree that it is very easy to twist something into what its not meant to be or make it seem a lot worse then needed. A woman's life story ends when she gets married, many students above listed that Cinderella and Snow White both have this statement in the story. I do know see the correlation with the two. I really enjoy how Austin brought the point up that the author ends the book allowing you to think or dream as you please.
Finally, I agree that teachers need to make sure that they are allowing the students to learn about equality between gender, race, and etc.
On a sheet of paper, list 5 fairy tales you remember from your youth. Put a star beside your favorite one(s). Then, for each of the fairy tales you listed, put the letter of the statement(s) which would be true about that fairy tale.
ReplyDeletea. A woman's life story ends when she gets married.
b. Men are active; women are passive.
c. Only evil women go after what they want.
d. Women are incapable of solving their own problems without help from men or supernatural beings.
e. Men are often transformed by the love of a good woman.
f. Women who venture too far from home generally get into trouble.
g. Women are most appealing when they are sleeping or dead.
Please discuss with your classmates what you discovered from this activity.
This blog is due November 1.
I ended up having three fairy tales that I consider to be favorites. I have always been a fan of The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. This is not a surprise to me that the last two listed were favorites, they both are Disney classics.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking through the criteria to decide if it was true for my favorite fairy tales, I was a little surprised what I found. I never thought about this stuff before. I only thought that there was always a happy ending or the girl married a prince, in two of the tales.
With The Three Little Pigs, I deemed true that none of the statements fit this fairy tale. On the other hand, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty proved many of the statements true. I listed with Cinderella the statement letters; A,B,C,D,E and F. Also, Sleeping Beauty was A,B,C,E and G. I was shocked when almost all the letters appeared with each fairy tale.
What I discovered from this activity melted down into the fact that a fairy tale is not just a happy ending or the girl marrying a prince. There is underlying plots, appeals and motives, many more parts than I originally thought.
Mallory,
ReplyDeleteyou actually picked two that I had initially chosen. I changed one of mine so there would be a variety on this post. I do believe fairytales can be very sexist. It doesn't surprise me at all the outcome of this post.
I have chosen three fairytales we all know and love: sleeping beauty, snow white and beauty and the beast.
ReplyDeletebeauty and the beast --a, d, e and f apply -- i guess the difference between mine and Mallory's assessment must be perception of the story.
Snow White --a, b, c, f and g
Sleeping Beauty -- a,b,c, and g
The funny thing about this assignment is that when my kids were little I did not let them watch the standard Disney movies. I think they are incredibly sexist. I have both a boy and a girl and don't want there to be any confusion in their minds as to the equal roles of men and women. New cartoons depict women in a much more progressive light such as The Incredibles and Monster vs Aliens both of these movies shined with equality of the sexes.
RE Rhonda Mulvaney:
ReplyDeleteI can see where you can take into consideration that the Disney movies can be sexist. I can look on that know and understand where your are coming from in your blog. On the other hand, when I was little, I did not even know what sexist was and how it applies to anything.
I do agree that there are more movies coming out in the recent years that are more gender equal. In my opinion, kids just want to see action and happy endings.
I have chosen the three fairy tales; Cinderella, Little Mermaid, and Mulan. These were my favorite out of the five I picked. After answering the questions for these fairy tales it was shocking to see how they were relevent to the storied.
ReplyDeleteFor Cinderella I had all 6 letters; ABCDEF
This is a classic story that almost every little girl will watch or read. It is disturbing to know what message it really portrays about woman. There are parts of the tale that Cinderella seems strong, but it is apparent by the questions that other things were very dominate over her.
The next story was Little Mermaid. The letters I had were; ADEF
Again, a story with male dominance. Although we do see some improvements with the female role. Arial is an independent girl with ideas of her own, but in the end it all depends on what the human man desires.
The last and probably my favorite is Mulan. This is one of Disney's newer stories which makes sense why I have the least amount of letters for it. Only E and F. Mulan is a strong female who conquers so much on her own. She is looked at as strong becasue she poses as a male, but in the end is revealed and still seen and respected in the same light.
It is apparent from this activity that many fairy tales are sexiest, but I agree with Mallory that when we are young and hearing these stories we are not necessarily aware of sexism. The message is obviously indirect but I do feel that more modern stories, tales, and films portray a postive female image.
ReplyDeleteThe fairy tales that I chose as my favorites from my childhood would be Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Three Little Pigs.
ReplyDeleteLittle Red Riding Hood- F
Cinderella- A, B, C, D, E, F
Three Little Pigs- None really fit this
Cinderella was the only one of my fairy tales that fit most of the list. This fairy tale has been turned into a movie and is definitely a "feel good" movie for young girls. The other two are fairy tales that serve the purpose of sending a message to the reader.
Re:
ReplyDeleteI chose two of the same as you. Although I have looked at fairy tales and movies with these types of questions in mind. It is very interesting to see what movies and books are teaching children. I definitely agree with you on the underlying plots and motives. It is amazing to see how our society and culture influence these things.
When I went to take the test, I picked some classics fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Pocahontas, Lady and the Tramp, and the Lion King. Most of what I remember is from watching them as Disney movies as a child. I don’t remember being read the stories, most of my memory comes from Disney’s interpretation of the story.
ReplyDeleteAfter I listed the top five that I could remember from my youth and put the letters beside the stories that they corresponded too, I started to laugh. I did notice that many of those sexist statements listed below could be used to describe the fairy tales. However, some of the stories were more equal in their representation of females in the story. I have never experienced an exercise like this and was a little surprised at the correlation that was trying to be made.
However, I think you could easily turn those very same statements around and turn them into ones that portray women in a better light. You could take almost any story and twist it and turn it into something that represents something that it is not. I don’t really believe any of the fairy tale stories listed above are sexist in what they are trying to teach. A statement like, “A women’s life ends when she gets married” is being misrepresented for a few reasons. Number one, the man’s story ends the same time as the woman’s. Number two, most of the stories end with a happy ending, so I think this is not necessarily a bad thing. Number three, the fact that the story is ending can be interpreted many different ways. That can be thought of as a positive thing. It can be thought of as a negative thing, like don’t get married your life is over. It can also be thought of as what it really is, just the ending to the story. Any negative connotation that is placed upon the story ending when the woman gets married is purely manifested by the reader. Not the author’s intention.
All in all, I think this exercise shows that you need to mix up what you teach young students. We should make sure that we show fairy tales of women and men succeeding in equal amounts. It is important for children who are growing up to understand that if they work hard, they have just as much right and ability to become successful as anyone else.
This is in response to Aly’s post. I did notice that the more modern the fairy tale was that I examined, the more it involved women in the story line and tried to portray them as equals to men. I think this goes to show that in today’s culture we are making an effort to equalize the roles of men and women. I think it is important to examine our history when looking at what these fairy tales portray too though. Women are usually not shown as fearless warriors, because throughout our history, men have done most of the fighting in wars. It is just common sense to think that a writer would pick a man as the role of a warrior in a movie, because that is how most of our history is. That is not to say that we have not had great female warriors, but the majority of them are men.
ReplyDeleteRE: Austin,
ReplyDeleteI believe I might have grown up in the same type of environment as you. I never read that many fairy tale books but watched several of the Disney movies, which were fairy tales.
I really enjoyed the statements you have made in your blog. I agree that it is very easy to twist something into what its not meant to be or make it seem a lot worse then needed. A woman's life story ends when she gets married, many students above listed that Cinderella and Snow White both have this statement in the story. I do know see the correlation with the two. I really enjoy how Austin brought the point up that the author ends the book allowing you to think or dream as you please.
Finally, I agree that teachers need to make sure that they are allowing the students to learn about equality between gender, race, and etc.