The roles of females in fairy tales (please understand that my v and c keys have for no reason switched round)

The heroine in a fairy tale is stereotypically beautiful, helpful and extremely naive (or even ignorant in some stories). She waits to be rescued from dangerous situations, and does not escape them through the use of her own wit/intelligence. In fact, usually, she is, to a certain degree mentally retarded (a good example would be Rapunzel asking the evil witch why she is so heavy compared to her new boyf). The heroine is very much portrayed as a victim.

The villain in a fairy tale is usually a woman. They are often described as witches, old or evil. They are usually defeated in the end. When it comes to female roles, the message fairy tales convey is that there are merely two types of women: the helpless and the malicious, much like the Madonna/Whore complex. Good women do not save the day or get themselves out of bad situations, they wait for a handsome prince to save them. Women who have desires and the moxie to achieve them are  villainous and will ultimately be punished.

Fairytales first appeared widely in published form in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when women's roles were undergoing major transformation in Western Europe and the US, yet fairy tales gained great popularity. Through the rise of feminism and the start of women in the workforce, fairy tales remained a widely-read genre.

Historians have noted that 'depictions of women have changed dramatically over the years, but in each era, dominant images have provided ideals to be either emulated or defied.' Fairy tales have presented such images to generations of girls and young women.





Photos that show acceptance of gender roles:



 (let's pretend she's not posing with her hands on her hips...)