Table of ContentsIntroductionRepresentation of Women in Versions of Sleeping BeautyPerpetuation of Stereotypes in Versions of CinderellaConclusionReferencesIntroductionFairy Tale Characters Serve as Important, Shaping Role Models children's perceptions and influencing their behavior in real-life situations. However, a disturbing trend emerges in many fairy tales, where gender inequality is deeply rooted. This is evident in different versions of Cinderella, where the underlying message involves the superiority of men over women. The stories of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” perpetuate the idea that women should conform to a subservient role, striving to please men while enduring mistreatment. Furthermore, these stories suggest that women's rescue and happiness depend on the intervention of men, often dependent on their physical beauty. Notably, male characters tend to treat women as objects, without any consequences for their actions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayRepresentation of women in versions of Sleeping BeautyIn one of the earliest versions of “Sleeping Beauty,” Known as "Sun, Moon and Talia," by Giambattista Basile, it is described as acceptable for the prince to have non-consensual sex with the sleeping princess. The prince found her sleeping body in the castle and “… being on fire with love, he carried her to a sofa and, after picking the fruits of love, left her lying there”. (Basil 79). The prince is a complete stranger to the princess, but he receives no consequences for his actions. He rapes her in her sleep, impregnating her, and the princess's reaction is to immediately fall in love with him even though he raped her and then left her alone in the castle for months. Back at the castle, he explains to her what happened and they “conclude a great pact of friendship” (Basil 80). Not only did the prince suffer no consequences for raping the princess, but they actually marry and live happily ever after. This is the oldest and most explicit version of the story, as it becomes more refined over time. Overall, this story implies that it is acceptable to treat women with such disrespect since the prince received no punishment for his cruel actions. Then, as seen in a more recent version of Sleeping Beauty, titled "Sleeping Beauty in the Forest". », by Charles Perrault, the sexual acts of the prince towards the princess are slightly more refined. In this version, the prince does not rape her; he kisses her after she wakes up. Then the prince and princess have sex and get married on the same day. When the princess woke up, she responded by “looking at him so tenderly” (Perrault 86). The prince didn't rape her, but the same meaning behind the story is still there. Additionally, she always had no problem with the way she was treated and subsequently gave birth to her children. Following this, the prince left the princess and their children alone with his ogre mother who almost killed them. He knew his mother's dangerous intentions, because "although he loved her, he feared her..." and did not take into consideration the fact that his family was alone with her for a long time (Perrault 87). The finale of Sleeping Beauty, “Brier Rose,” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, is the most refined of the three versions. “No sooner had his lips touched his than BrierRose opened her eyes, woke up, and smiled kindly” (Grimm 91). The princess and prince lived happily ever after. It is clear that this story is much more appropriate than the other versions. Although the prince raped her in the old version and only kissed her in the new one, the same underlying idea is still present. The plot is always that of a passive woman, treated by a man as if she were a disposable object; The objectification of the princess is not as obvious in this version. Women should have control over who they want to be with physically; this story essentially takes away this right from women due to Sleeping Beauty's excited response to being kissed by a stranger. A common pattern in all versions of Sleeping Beauty is that the prince treats the princess like an object. Since she is unable to defend herself, he ignores the fact that she is incapable of consenting to sex. The fact that he faces no consequences for his wrongful actions means that he will not change the way he acts towards women. After the prince has sex with the sleeping body of the princess, impregnating her, he leaves her alone in an abandoned castle for a long time. When he returns and she fully accepts what happened, he leaves her again. Later in the story, the prince leaves the princess and her two children with his ogre mother. He feared his mother because of the family she came from, but “he trusted her to also take care of his wife and children, because he would be at war all summer” (Perrault 87). He should have been more responsible and stayed to protect his wife and children from his ogre mother. If he hadn't come back soon enough, they all would have been killed. Earlier in the story, “…he told her that he loved her more than he loved himself…” (Perrault 86). If the prince really loved her as much as he says, he wouldn't have left her alone in the castle multiple times, then left her and their children alone with her dangerous mother for an entire summer. Rather than truly loving the princess, it seems that the prince only sees her as an object, and she is helpless over the way men treat her. Perpetuation of Stereotypes in Versions of Cinderella Another common way of treating women in fairy tales holds that they are only worthy of love if they are beautiful, as demonstrated in "Cinderella." This story implies that women are only loved if they are beautiful and that a woman's status is determined by a man. Cinderella wore dirty clothes and did all the dreadful chores around the house. She constantly received comments like, “Come into the kitchen where you belong!” » (Grimm 48). Her evil stepmother forced her to live in a small room with an uncomfortable mattress while her stepsisters were spoiled. Her stepmother and stepsisters ridiculed her because of her dirty appearance. When the ball approached, she was not allowed to attend until she looked beautiful. At this ball, she met a prince; Once the prince finds out who she is, he falls in love with her. Cinderella was obligated to do favors for everyone, but that didn't change until the prince fell in love with her and took her to his castle. Her stepsisters wanted nothing to do with her until she married the prince. “They threw themselves at her feet to ask her forgiveness for all the ill treatment she had received from them” (Perrault 47). In this fairy tale, the man is completely dominant and the woman only gets her status from the man. Cinderella counted on the prince to save her from her villain.