Snow White and Gender Issues Essay Example

Gender role stereotyping permeate everyday life. Children are usually educated about gender roles very early in their lives, probably before they learn to walk, certainly long before they begin school. The behaviors that cause of these gender roles often go unnoticed but their effect is endless, writer Joan I. Glazer analyzes these views when she states, " when you read books to children, be aware that you are showing them one perception of how the world is structured" (Glazer 134). Although parents, teachers, and other socializing agents communicate gender roles to children at an early age, the issue of how children's literature influences gender roles, is a major factor to individualizing specific roles for females.
The Brothers Grimm classic fairy tale "Snow White," a universal and popular fairy tale, represents the female gender in a negative way. Snow White is displayed as being frightened, naive and helpless, and the evil Queen, her stepmother, the only other prominent female character is a narcissist. Thus, after reading or hearing this fairy tale, society begins to mold into these stereotypes, Glazer further analyzes this theory when she states " Women work in the home and wear aprons;... girls play dolls" (Glazer 135). This quote demonstrates what society considers to be women’s role. These traits are presented when the huntsman spares Snow Whites life and when the Dwarfs expect Snow White to do house work in order to live safely with them. The Queen ironically has a lot of power for a woman in this fairy tale, yet she also falls into the stereotype for females. She only use her power for negatives, rather than positives, scheming vindictive plots on Snow White throughout the whole story. In which, naive Snow White falls victim for the schemes, not once but three times.
The evil queen sends the huntsmen to kill Snow White. This setting introduces the readers to Snow White as a scared helpless girl, a typical expected role of a female. To spare her life