Conforming to Social Standards in Fairy Tales
The power of love is known to all, and the separation from love is one of the weirdest instances that may happen to the life of a human being. Fairy tales often employ the use of spectacular events to portray the structure of human life. For example, the responsibility of parents to love their children has been portrayed as one of the most difficult assignments that parents face. Parents find difficulties in knowing the boundary between love and negligence. Children may be pardoned from necessary punishment if parents fail to realize that love includes everything that has to be done to make the life of a child straight, and that includes punishment. The process of bringing up children is delicate, and if improperly done, children end up growing into irresponsible or even undetermined adults. The relationship between love and gender equality has been strong, and the female gender is mostly on the receiving end of the negative impacts of the relationship. The society has been built on a perspective of treating women as delicate objects that should be handled with care while men have been trained to survive since young ages. The theme of social standards has been built in several fairy tales and reflects the real picture of present societies, and the way love differs between men and women. Fairy tales have been critical in presenting the real picture of the society, and the issue of gender has not been left behind, although fairly tales attempt to justify the consequences suffered by every character.
The young age of every child is always crucial in determining the kind of person that the child will become in the future. However, parents tend to treat male children differently from female children. The young girls are subjected to dolls and made into believing that they should grow up as clean ladies, unlike the boys who are left to grow on their own (Tatar, 2018). Besides, fairy tales have been developed to support the society’s nature of bringing up children in a way that makes them conform to social standards that exist in society. Unfortunately, children have no authority to choose their way of life, and the parents are responsible for most of the transformations that children go through. However, fairy tales have been essential in modeling the nature of children since they have always been perceived as entertainment for children. Fairy tales are known for their ability to win the minds of children and play a transformative role that other forms of tales may not be able to play. In the wake of a transformed fairly tale era, adults can use fairy tales to instill the characters that are acceptable by society without a struggle. The unfortunate bit of fairy tales comes in when a particular society is divided concerning the roles of both genders and children might end up getting confused on the roles to pursue.
Fairy tales can be divided into two broad groups as providers of behavioral patterns and models for children. The presentation of heroes and heroines in the tales takes the most significant responsibility of teaching children the lanes to take when conforming to the societal standards. However, girls and boys have always been exposed differently to the circumstances that shape them into the requirements of society. For example, girls often receive tender treatment and soft training concerning the conformity to duties. The treatment given to girls makes them grow as soft beings that expect the universe always to be compassionate and considerate of their welfare. On the other side, however, the boys are brought up as hardy beings that can survive on their own, and the universe does not have to be compassionate. In the tale, “Sleeping Beauty,” the princess is modeled to grow up as a patient person. In the earlier days of her life, the princess is introduced into greatness by the gifts that she receives as she prepares to be married by the prince. The treatment that the princess receives trains her to fit into the standards of the society without questioning even where a personal decision is needed. For example, the princess could have given up in waiting after the Ogress took away her children. Also, the tale tells the society why ladies should be trained to grow up as patient people. At the end of the tale, the patience of the princess pays off as the prince comes back to set things straight. Therefore, fairy tales are crucial in maintaining the standards of society.
Most fairy tales are designed to bring up women who do not give competition to their male counterparts. The bringing up of girl children from young ages takes different efforts from those of boy children. From the type of toys bought for each gender to the roles assigned to each gender, parents bring up children who conform to the standards of the society without question. The stereotypical upbringing of children is also found in the tales that children are exposed to during their early ages. The development of characters who take specific roles compels children into believing that the conformity to the standards makes them heroes and heroines. Looking at Perrault’s tales, for example, one would easily tell that Perrault represented the society’s limited view on women (Bettelheim, 2010). The society has been having a limited view of women for a significant time, and Perrault’s tales reveal the details. In the “Sleeping Beauty” version by Perrault, women are presented as dependants on men, and patience is used to represent the type of woman that the society accepts. Also, society has set standards to present a woman as a tool of beauty. The quality of woman in the “Sleeping Beauty” is measured in terms of beauty and the ability to dance and sing. Therefore, women are reserved for men who are believed to be fighting to have women, and the women are expected to stay and wait for the right man for marriage. Women have, however, accepted their fate and are always preparing to impress men in a bid to win the best of the men for marriage and companionship.
Fairly tales have been creators of models for girls, where beauty is valued above brains and character. The first impression that a girl gives is that of beauty while character follows much later. The development of model girls also starts at a young age when parents try to teach their girls in the right way of conforming to society. The impact of developing a society that is obsessed with beauty takes more than the role of parents. The general environment within which children are brought up creates a feeling that girls should be beautiful while men should have brains and should be hard-working. For example, a parent will be said to be responsible if they succeed in keeping their daughter clean and beautiful. However, a boy child will be accepted for keeping his hands dirty and will be applauded for leading a man’s life. Although society has changed a bit from the way women were married off, the ideology of the male-dominated marriage system still exists. Most societies hold the belief that women should agree to move to their husband’s family and that the roles of the women should emanate from submission. The belief does not differ from the ideologies presented in the tales that present women who would spend half of their lifetimes preparing to meet a prince who would marry them. Generally, society has set standards that put men at a higher level than women, although the standards appear overprotective to women on several occasions.
The representation of men and women’s roles in the society has been changing, and fairy tales are not left behind in bringing out the change. In the “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” the changes in the perception of the society on women are shown ironically, but the presentation is built on truth (Perrault, 2015). Although the tale still gives the expected society’s treatment of women, the change in standards is evident, and the listeners of such a tale cannot deny the transformation that the society is going through. Initially, the king is worried about the inability of his wife to give birth. The king however appears supportive in the attempts that the queen makes in a bid to get pregnant. Eventually, the queen gets pregnant and a princess is born. The beginning of the tale takes the listener back to the time when the social standards were discriminative against women but eventually transited to the transformed society where the opinions of the women are respected. Men have been given a different presentation in that they are no longer viewed as monsters who would not respect their women.
Fairy tales are always based on a morality that defines the position of the society on the issue of protecting the interests of women. Social standards that are discriminative to women are accepted in the societies and women are among the supporters of the standards. In most of the tales such as the “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods,” the heroines are only identified as being beautiful and being determined to perform their domestic chores without failing. Also, the heroines are presented as being docile and having a desirable level of stupidity. The stupidity trait is desirable because intelligent women are considered dangerous and may not be tolerated in society. The tales tend o advocate for total submission of women to men in a bid to protect the family system. The argument in most fairy tales is that when women are allowed to be independent, the family structure is certain to suffer from the impacts of conquest with women fight to dominate and the family structure will eventually break. When such a mentality is instilled in the minds of the young generation, the children will grow up knowing that the standards of the society defined women in terms of beauty and men in terms of intelligence.
In sum, the theme of conforming to social standards has been dominant in most fairy tales. The building of the theme has been relying on the impacts of love, where parental responsibility is crucial in shaping the community towards maintaining the standards. “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods” are among the tales that present the society’s obsession with social standards that have been discriminative against women, but the women have been supportive to the standards. The tales have however, been evolving with time to incorporate the changes in the society’s standards.
References
Bettelheim, B. (2010). The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales. Vintage.
Kolbenschlag, M. (1988). Kiss sleeping beauty good-bye: Breaking the spell of feminine myths and models. Harper & Row.
Perrault, C. (2015). The sleeping beauty in the woods. ” Издательство”” Проспект”””.