Fairy tales are, as A. Dworkins argues, “the primary information of the culture”; that is to say they delineate the values and ideals within society that impressionable children ought to aspire to. They depict good and evil in polarities, whereby readers are compelled into supporting the actions of the sacred princes and princesses. The effect of such stories, that are so deep-rooted within cultural traditions, can be argued as a projection of cultural misogyny and the root of the female acceptance to such misogyny. In order to assess such claims, the composition of traditional fairy tales must be analysed.
The obvious patriarchy displayed in fairy tales is explored in the typical female characters that constitute the traditional fairy tale.
The wicked witch, evil stepmother, or despotic queen all depict the corruption and related problems of female-power. These sources of evil are the only examples of females displaying any authority in classic fairy tales. This indoctrinates the reader with the idea that females who hold authority will abuse their unjust power into causing a cruel society. Furthermore, the destruction caused by the tyrants is directed to the princess of the story only. In Snow White, the queen illustrates her power through the use of a magic mirror. This denotes the idea that women gain power through imaginary systems; the evil witches are never powerful due to how wise they are (unlike their male equivalents). Instead, the authors of fairy tales present the idea that wicked witches (the most powerful female figures in fairy tales) gain their power through ways that do not exist in the real world. This imprints on the child audience the meaning that a woman’s power and goodness are mutually exclusive, nor can they reach statuses of authority in the real world. The fact that the wicked witch disrupts the princess in her journey of goodness implies the idea that women who gain power perform an act of self-destruction, as they hurt other females, thus scaring female audiences away from the desire to gain power. The act of females gaining power results in a punishment upon womankind.
The fairy godmother’s appearance in traditional fairy tales in less frequent and many traditional fairy tales have only woven her into their storylines recently. She is the next most powerful female figure in fairy tales, however her magical characteristics once more exemplify the absurdities in female authority. She is the captured princess’s escapism and projection of her ideal: she is a powerful female figure in the fairy tale, however her power is not real. The princess clings to the support of a fairy godmother, however she is aware that she requires a man to provide her with life-long protection, as the fairy godmother’s magic is not a viable, long-term solution. This inculcates the idea that females cannot be independent, nor dependent on another female, however must find the support of a man to provide lifelong security. The fairy godmother’s power is only used to promote the sexist ideas of the author: the power is used in order for the princess to complete her housework and to look more beautiful. In essence, the fairy godmother helps the princess to be passive for her prince.
The princesses of classical fairy tales are an ideal for a young girl to aspire to: they are the epitome of goodness. Firstly, their names divulge, rather unsubtly, the authors’ sexist intentions as a large proportion of the names are simply physical attributes, such as Snow White, ‘beauty’ from Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping ‘Beauty’. These are examples of princesses’ identities being solely their ‘beauty’, thus imprinting onto the young, impressionable audience that the ideal woman’s identity is only to be of beauty. Contrarily, the male equivalent (the prince) hides from any individuality across all fairy tales, as the name ‘Prince Charming’ is applied to every fairytale. The male name is an attribute to the power he holds (as prince) and his nature (charming). As this is universally applied to all fairytales, children learn that all men of power are ‘charming’, thus conditioning audiences into social hierarchical generalisations and sexist comparisons. The nature of the princesses is similar throughout fairy tales as all princesses adopt a naïve, unworldly persona, thus furthermore illustrating the principle that the female ideal is one of little knowledge, as to prevent themselves from reaching authority.
The disturbing treatment of the princess continues in the princesses’ journeys through the fairy tale; often their acts whereby they prove themselves as a princess involve violence. This notion indicates the passivity to violence that females ought to adopt, potentially leading to their passive responses to abuse, which are glamourised in fairy tales. The Princess and the Pea highlights this thought, as the princess must show her bruising after her night of sleeping under a pea. Only after experiencing this pain can the princess validate her status. Secondly, Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger, after being influenced by a wicked witch who is jealous of Sleeping Beauty’s power, causing her to fall into a deep sleep for one hundred years. The King attributes the biggest, most important room to his daughter, for her to sleep in; this implies the respect the males have for women who are passive, as Sleeping Beauty is completely torpid during her sleep. The princess is only awoken by the kiss of a prince. This idea proclaims that the utility of a woman is only actuated by a man. Following the kiss, Sleeping Beauty falls in love with the prince, implying that a woman ought to respect male attention, in spite of being raped.
Ruth Elizabeth 
Interesting quote to start with; the fear is that this is simply an assertion with no actual evidence to back it. Besides Dworkin has previously stated that “Childbearing is glorified because women die from it” which by her logic would make ovarian cancer very popular. In fact quite the opposite is true. Dworkin suggests that society is predominantly misogynistic but looking at funding for cancer awareness; breast cancer is the most heavily funded suggesting that society is not misogynistic but in fact gynocentric. Furthermore Dworkin has also stated “I want to see a man beaten to a bloody pulp with a high-heel shoved in his mouth, like an apple in the mouth of a pig”; which is interesting that you choose to accept someone’s work; whom is a notable misandrist especially as seeing from your other blogs that you consider yourself to be for equality.
Although the point you make towards the fairy tales you have highlighted hold validity; you do seem to imply an overall generality towards all fairy tales suggesting that they all follow the same character traits. This is simply not the case. There are examples where your assertion does not hold true. Some examples are the following: Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Man.
In Little Red Riding Hood, the protagonist of an exploratory nature is female and the antagonist is a male wolf. In Little Red Hen, the Hen attempts to make wheat however, she asks for help from other animals but receives none and makes the bread by herself. In The Gingerbread Man, the gingerbread man runs away from his creators. He out runs both a man and a woman and is inevitably eaten by a male wolf.
In the cases you have provided a question arises in the age of them. They all originated from the Victorian era which is clearly suggested by the idea that snow white has the attractive quality of skin as white as snow which by todays thought of attractive attributes is considered unhealthy. While although the point you make that the fairy tales are still being used today is true; the stories nature has be changed dramatically and updated to societal beliefs of today. For example you make about prince charming is used to today for ironic and mocking purposes. A great example of this is Shrek which is a retelling of the fairy tale: Sleeping Beauty. However Prince Charming is anything but Charming. He has an undesirable and boorish personality.
Another issue that needs to be highlighted; is about Prince Charming having to kiss Sleeping Beauty to awake her. You suggested that this act is rape. This is incorrect as it is a case of sexual assault. However a question must be raised in this case. The law states that consent does not have to be verbally given but that there is reason to believe that it exists. Seeing as Sleeping Beauty has an affliction that has a cure; it is sensible to believe that that consent exists in this instance. Personally I would argue that the princess falls in love with the prince not because she must but because she is most likely flattered by the gesture that someone would go through the difficulty of trying to save her. If anything this is not suggesting that women should respect men but it is that men should work hard to serve women. Which is more gynocentric than as you are suggesting phallocentric.
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Thank you very much for your comment.
With regards to your point of Dworkin’s gynocentric attitudes, I would like to remind you that my intention is to highlight some of Dworkins’ ideas that she raises in Woman Hating and by referencing her I am not attempting to glorify her attitudes. Moreover, I urge you to read further into these quotes you have used. The quote is found in her 1990 novel, Mercy, which she argues in her 1997 writing Life and Death that Mercy is written fictionally. Although her critiques suggest that Mercy is written semi-autobiographically, I believe it important to take this quote as Dworkin intended.
The second quote that you have picked up on (“Childbearing is glorified in part because women die from it”) is from chapter two of Pornography, 1981. This is part of her campaign to reestablish healthy relationships with sex and women in society: I reject your claim that this would somehow popularise ovarian cancer. Dworkin is truly trying to explain how society ought to renew the traditional role of a woman of childbearing, which she believes shifts power towards men.
Regarding the alternate fairy tales, I openly admit that there are exceptions to the generalisations made, however in the examples you gave I do believe that a case stands for the female-submissive undertones that I argue for. I used the examples of fairy tales that involve human relationships as they are easier explored and I believe have a greater impact on young readers. In the case of Little Red Riding Hood, for example, the wolf (who we assume is male) hides behind his character of a wolf; I argue that the fact that he is a wolf is more important than his vague genderisation. It is also true that, particularly in other languages, all animals are designated the gender of male, so the fact that the wolf is a male may be a result of a translational discrepancy. This may reveal the author’s desire to depict the relationship between our human, innocent psyche and our animalistic instincts and desires. If this were the case, it is interesting to explore how only the male (if we assume the wolf is male) is allowed to pursue this more savage, instinct-driven persona. This fairy tale does follow a basic trend as the female characters are saved by a male (the huntsman) and the two female characters are depicted as weak and vulnerable.
I am in agreement in your acknowledgement of new fairy tales, such as Shrek, and I believe that this is most certainly the direction that societies ought to bw striving towards. However, many of the classical fairy tales remain an integral part of modern, British childhood: my recent work in a nursery has certainly corroborated this for me.
I hope this has been able to clarify a few points that you made; I fully appreciate your input and ideas.
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