I have enjoyed writing this blog and discussing gender roles in children’s literature. I especially enjoyed rereading the tales I liked when I was a child. I loved when my mother read the Disney fairy tales and I thought the princesses were absolutely beautiful. In fact, I remember wishing I could “grow” up to be one of these princesses. These fairy tales and children’s books were such a large part of my childhood. The problem is that after reading these books, I wanted a magic carpet, a footstool that doubled as a dog, seven drawfs to hang out with, a glass slipper, a mermaids tail and ofcourse, a prince.
This post will focus on the topic of girlhood and domesticity. Girlhood is a time of agency and power, when you hit that pubescent stage, everything changes for the worst. This is instilled through these fairy tales (Humphreys).
Disney Princesses as Sex Objects
Girlhood is the transition stage before adolescence and adulthood. This is where a girl is not yet an adolescent or adult but is quickly maturing. In Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, the idea of girlhood and domesticity is portrayed as the waiting and dreaming and romanticizing of marriage. Each of these heroines longs for a prince, a man to love and marry. In Feminism and Fairy Tales, Karen Rowe states that:
Traditional fairy tales fuse morality with romantic fantasy in order to portray cultural ideals for human relationships. These fantasies gloss the heroine’s inability to act self assertively, relying on external rescues, and her willing bondage to her father and/or prince. Subconsciously women may transfer from fairy tales into real life cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues. These tales emphasize the patriarchal status by making female subordination seem romantically desirable and indeed an inescapable fate. These tales continue to glamorize a heroine’s traditional yearning for romantic love which culminates in marriage (Rowe 342-343).
Below is a clip of the Disney couples. It is actually titled Disney “Royal Couples.” It is very strange to see these female characters as sexual objects, in provocative outfits and hanging off of their prince. It is only a few minutes long but feels like it never ends. The montage of Disney couples in love and what Disney shows children is a “happy” life consists of marriage, sharing a home and being with nobody else but your prince charming. I give you kudos if you are able to sit through this entire clip!
For further reading on gender stereotypes in Disney fairy tales and films click here. Next is a clip from Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She sings a song that became very popular with children called “Some Day My Prince Will Come.” It is no wonder girl’s believe finding their prince charming would make them as happy as Snow White herself. Listen to the questions the dwarfs are asking about the prince’s physical description. Can you say “stereotype?”
Before we continue on, check out this clip I found of a man making a visit to “Toys R Us.” You can hear the aggrivation in his voice as he stumbles upon a Disney- “no-no!” You will see that there is a big problem here as gendering children is done through not only fairy tales and film, but even the toys made for young girls and boys.
Some can argue that Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, that describes Anne’s longing for a white dress, represents her yearning for a relationship and for marriage. Others believe that even though there is reference to a white dress, this doesn’t mean that she wants to be married; she may simply like the dress and what it means in terms of comfort and stability (Humphreys). Each fairy tale and children’s book may as well have a written warning for all children informing them of how they should feel after hearing the story. In large BOLD print it should say…
Notice for all little girls: BEGIN SEARCHING FOR A MAN, IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO WED HIM, YOU WILL LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. HE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH A HOME AND THE WONDERFUL BLESSING OF CHILDREN THAT YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO CARE FOR AND NURTURE WHILE HE BRINGS HOME THE BREAD! THIS IS HOW TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
For little boys: WITH YOUR HANDSOME LOOKS, DAZZLING WIT AND ABUNDANCE OF WEALTH, FIND A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND MARRY HER; FOR SHE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN. DESTROY ANYONE THAT STANDS IN YOUR WAY! THIS IS HOW TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Due to these fairy tales, virginal dreams of elegant balls, adored princes, and romantic deliverance become captivatingly mysterious when compiled with concealed identities, hints of incest, hidden treasures, ancient curses, supernatural apparitions and looming mansions. Rowe states that fairy tales suppress sexuality and adhere to social hierarchies and influences girlhood today (Rowe 346). It is no wonder that some little girls would think marriage is the source of eternal happiness. It is what they are being told each and every time they read these fairy tales.
Domesticity and girlhood is seen in Frank L. Baum’s The Wizard of Oz and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Dorothy and Alice share dreams of returning to their homes. Dorothy is lost in Oz and wants to return to her home where it is familiar and attempts to do so the entire story. Alice, seemingly content in Wonderland, soon realizes that she too misses home. Although they are in places that offer more excitement then their own homes ever did, they long to return to where they feel safe and comfortable. It is in their quest to return home that they transition from little girls to young woman. This shows that children’s literature’s idea of girlhood to womanhood involves domesticity.
This is a popular clip of Dorothy from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz as she clicks her heels together in order to leave Oz and return to Kansas. “There’s No Place Like Home.”
Alice and the Strange Characters in Wonderland
In Alice in Wonderland, Carroll leaves readers with an uplifting “happily ever after” that is refreshing as it isn’t completely stereotypical:
“…after-time…’becoming’ a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood; and how she would gather 
about her little children, and make their eyes bright with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago; and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days” (Carroll 110).
Alice didn’t get married to a prince who she had been yearning for, that had chased her and killed hideous monsters to get to her. Instead, the hope for Alice is that she grows up to keep her fond childhood memories and child like heart. This is something I too hope to never lose (so far, so good)!
As Marilla in Anne of Green Gables expressed to Anne that she is better off not reading books, you may be left wondering if certain books should not be read to children. But I think the trick here is being educated and aware that yes, in fact, children’s literature is full of gender stereotypes that may be misleading to young children. Be in “the know.” You now know, children’s books are still loved by many and create fond childhood memories. You now know that the dark side of children’s literature does exist and gender labels can be seen in children’s literature. But you know now, with the information I have provided you with, how to handle this transition period for children. How to help makes this transition smoother for your child and other children, by being there to support them in their growth and development into adults. I hope I have opened your eyes to the wonders children’s literature has to offer but have provided you with the tools you will need in order to discuss gender roles and stereotypes with your children during their transition from girlhood/boyhood to womanhood/manhood. So with your new found knowledge, it seems to me that maybe there is a winner after all…this battle is not completly lost. Children have US to count on and that’s quite the win after all.
Thanks for following my blog. May you live happily ever after!
Finally, it is ok to be silly, let loose and have a little fun!
Battle of the Sexes 