First, great job on posting so far, to students who have done so. For everyone else, get busy!
I noted that one of my Tuesday/Thursday students, Jasmine, brought up body image. That got me thinking: What are fairy tale characters supposed to look like? What would the Wicked Queen in "Snow White" look like? How about the prince?
Also, do these well-known, culturally-entrenched characters affect our own body images? Do they create our fears about what is acceptable for appearance? Or, do they just throw a mirror up to the fears that already exist?
If you'd like to respond, you may try looking at some of the illustrations for fairy tales. They provide great inspiration.
38 comments:
I believe many fairy tale characters have a specific look. Princesses are slim, long legged, and blemish free. They have a natural radiance that others achieve through make-up. Most all, but Snow, have long, pretty hair. Pretty eyes and perfect proportions are expected. The wicked queen should be old looking with wrinkles and a non proportioned body. She would not be "perfect." The prince would also be "perfect." Great hair, body, and often times rich. Smooth face, tall, essentially flawless. Fairy tales like celebrities provide the ideal frame for girls. I don't believe they create fears about image until the little girls grow up because when they are young they can be anything. I think fairy tales start the thought for ideal body images, and celebrities just reaffirm them. Girls want to be princesses. They believe that the body, money, and men are all apart of life. This fantasy life as we know it is dangerous. It can also lead little girls to trouble. Courtney T
I think the characters in fairy tales are supposed to be very beautiful. The characters are a meant to become a part of our imagination. This could pose a problem for some children (mostly girls) who are very impressionable. They may wish they were as beautiful as the princess in the story they read. It is important to teach our children that beauty is not everything and that although some woman may be very beautiful they can still be a very ugly person. Helen F.
I think fairytale characters pretty much have a set image. Princes are supposed to have a handsome look about them, and princesses are supposed to be beautiful. Although, the beast in Beauty and the Beast is an exception, he still turns into a handsome prince at the end. Cinderella may not be considered "beautiful" at the beginning, but by the end she is gorgeous! I think that the way princesses look in fairytale movies do have an impact on our society and therefore does affect the way we see our own body image. I know when I was little, Snow White was always my favorite, and I always wanted to look just like her. I was even her for Halloween one year. As far as evil characters are concerned, they are usually old, ugly, and create fear towards little kids. I know when I was little, I was very afraid of the evil hag in Snow White. It gave me nightmares! So yes, I do believe in a way they do create somewhat of a fear as to what we think of as an acceptable appearance. They do throw up a "mirror" to fears most people have. Most people are afraid of witches, and would not like to be in the same room as one of them. The images that fairy tales portray, in my eyes, do have a great affect on society in many different ways.
When it comes to body image, Disney has the wrong way of going about it. All the Disney princesses is pretty and petite. Disney show little girls that princesses are the idle woman and they always get Prince Charming. Even though fairy tales are just stories to past the time and to increase a child's imagination, then could that influence why young ladies have eating disorders at a young age but that's a different subject. Disney should come up with a princess that show little girls that princesses come in all shapes and sizes and she can be just as pretty and loved as the ones that petite. But what is disney trying to teach little girls, if its not body image then what is it. I think its competion between young over old, wise over naive, or lust over love fighting for beauty or power? I'll let you decide!
Jasmine H Tues/Weds 1:00
Body image is big in today's society. Disney's princesses always have the "perfect" body. They are never fat and ugly they are always skinny and beautiful. These fairy tales never have a beautiful princess or character marrying a ugly prince either. Most of the time the "ugly" character is the one who is bad or evil. In the Brother's Grimm version of Snow White it looks at Snow Whites beauty and thats all that matters. So much so that they put her in a glass coffin on top of a hill for everyone to look at. If she was fat or ugly do you really think they would of done this? I dont. Body image is looked at by most people in today's society because of the way it is portrayed by celebrities. To be thin beautiful and popular is all what is viewed today as having the "perfect body image." This is very sad that people have to view the world like this.
s. curtis
Kids in most families are brought up on knowing about fairytales and how the characters in that tale look thanks to Disney. In all cases of fairytales there is a certain look for the prince and princess. The princess is always slim, tall, and beautiful. For the prince, he is always tall, handsome and always saving the princess from danger. My perspective is that Disney should have gone another way with fairy tales, or at least switched the body image up a little bit. With kids watching these movies, they might start to think that they have to look a certain way for the prince or princess to like them. It's not right. There's already a lot of pressure derived from the media. Why start with young kids and having them get these ideas from fairy tales? Especially from the tale "Snow White". That specific tale is based only on beauty and looks. She basically gets what she wants just from her looks. Kids could pick up on some of these little details from any fairy tale. They shouldn't have to worry about body image or the "perfect" body image at that. In a way I do think that fairy tales do affect what we think is acceptable for appearance. Like I've already said, in every fairy tale there's always the "perfect" body image.
In almost all of the fairy tale books I had as a child all the "good" characters were beautiful and the "evil" ones were ugly or less appealing to the eye. I had one book that I think was more nursery rhymes than fairy tales but all the male characters had very feminine features but well defined muscles. I was always very drawn to these because it was not how I envisioned a man to look. And ofcourse all of the ladies were exquisitely beautiful with amazingly intricate and unique clothing. I can remember being slightly scared by some of the pictures of the "evil" characters yet being drawn to the great artistic skill used to make the character. I had nightmares after watching the Disney version of "Sleeping Beauty" for the first time and I shut my eyes whenever she appeared in the movie for a long time after that. The women and men in fairy tales all had very light skin, like porcelain and hair that people spend hundreds of dollars today to get. I think all people have fears and doubts about how they look or what people think of them. However, fairy tales which influence society only make these fears scary to deal with. One of the first books that a child is ever read is a fairy tale in its edited version, most likley, hopefully, and the illustrations can have a huge impact on what that child will interpret about the world.
c.schedler
Fairy tales are so often centered on beauty. The main character is almost always devatatungly beautiful. Likewise, the evil characters always show how ugly they are , physically, at some point. The evil Queen in Snow White is beautiful, but presents her ugliness in the form of the beggar woman she disguises herself as. The interesting thing that I see though, is that ugliness is often a punishment. The greedy Frog Prince was turned into a frog until he could be saved from his ugly spell by a beautiful girl. His less than desirous appearance was a punishment inflicted on him. In the Same way, the Beast, from "Beauty and The Beast", was punished for his greed by having to live in his beastly form. What I find interesting, is that the beautiful women in these stories are not often punished for their greed. Snow White's greed ended up nearly getting her killed three times. Briar Rose in "Sleeping Beauty" snuck out to see the Prince and was then discovered by the Evil Witch. The trend seems to be that the handsome men are punished for their greed and vanity, but the women are not. The women are meant to survive by their beauty. I wonder, if this isn't just a way for women to be told how important beauty should be and for men to be told that beauty, except as a feminine trait, is not important to a man's life?
-Alicia K.
Disney is often blamed for creating the physical stereotypes associated with fairy tale characters such as Snow White, Cinderella, evil Queens, wicked stepmothers, etc. However, that doesn't explain why so many works of art created long before Disney animated films were made depict the same sort of young and beautiful versus old and ugly characters. I believe, subconsciouly, people create these images of fairy tale characters because these preconceived images make the stories easier to digest. Whether in fairy tales or other types of literature, we associate good with beautiful and evil with ugly. We need to feel that the character we label as "good" is young and beautiful and the horrible "evil" character is old and ugly. Do fairy tale body images transfer to body images in real life? I don't believe the body image can be separated from the entire package of being princess (or prince) like. Physical appearance is only one part of society's distorted concept of what a person needs to live a charmed life.
Stacey N.
I believe it was discussed in class that every culture has the same standards for beauty. The face and body measurements are very much the same. It is difficult to say what came first, sort of a chicken or the egg scenerio. Do fairy tales make us believe such standards or are they just repeating what we already know? To take a stab at this question, I believe it is safe to say that fairy tales are simply restating what is already known considering the human race evolved before fairy tales. These characters could be compared to realistic models (ex. ones who are not extremely thin) with features that suggest reproduction of healthy offspring. The wicked queen, however, could look less attractive because she is older and less prone to reproduce.
Erin R.
First off fairy tale characters are supposed to resemble humans because that’s what most of them are but each have special characteristics. For example they may have lots of beauty or be really ugly. They may be strong or weak. The wicked queen in “Snow White” would look beautiful because she is one step below Snow White according to the mirror. She would although get a look to her that turns ugly when she get jealous. The prince would look handsome and usually the prince and princesses look good in stories. The truth is that these characters do affect how we view ourselves. We all strive to look our best and know when we don’t. The truth is every woman wishes to look like a princess just like men want to look like a prince. An example with children on how they what to view themselves as fairy tale characters is related to a certain day of the year. We see this during Halloween and even on just random days. The truth is that fears are created with these characters. Many people get called ugly characters. The characters set examples of good looking and the not so good looking. In summery fairy tale characters live in all of us. How many times have you seen a character in a show or movie that was a real person and said to yourself, I wish I looked like that?
J. Matthews
We are all pretty much taught nowadays to believe that fairy tale characters look like Disney's interpretation of these characters. We are brought up on these images. These are the fairy tales we were taught until now. A prince is suppose to be on a white horse and extremely handsome, a princess is usually decked out in jewels and necklaces in the prettiest dress possible, and so on. We were all raised to think that a fairy tale is one of Disney's movies. Many people don't even know there are more versions of these tales.
The characters in these fairy tales look however our imagination wants them to, that's what they are anyway, figments of our imagination. We picture them however they are described in the texts. Their image hides deep inside everyone's minds.
Steve Murray eng131
While reading fairy tales it's perfectly natural to picture the characters of the tale as human beings. Usually the style of clothing they wear are dependent on the era when the tale was published or initially released. The style of the clothing may differ depending on where the setting is.
Unfortunately, our ability to imagine these beings only gives us our own perception of these characters. These images may not be what the writer had in mind when he created them. Some characters may not even be human but instead a mouse or a lion. In order to give us, the readers, an idea of what the characters are suppose to look like in order to get certain point or symbol across, the writer will elaborate to guide us in the right direction. An artist then takes these elaborations to create a tangible image of what she believes to be the true image of the character.
Regardless of how we see each character, the writer is the only person that knows the true image of the characters in his tale.
I believe fairy tale characters have specific images because back then when children heard the stories, they heard them through word of mouth. There was no Disney to colorfully elaborate for them on every single detail with technology and the children had to use their imagination to follow the story. So fairy tale writers wrote their characters to have elaborate, beautiful features for so many of the characters so that they could come alive in the minds of children. For example Snow White was described to have skin as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair black as ebony so that she could be easily imagined. If the characters were plain and boring then nobody would have been very interested in them in the first place. Also if people in fairy tales were just like us and looked just like us, then we wouldn’t be very much interested in them or would we still be talking about today, years after they were written.
g.dzonzi
When I think of fairy tales, I automatically think of long haired princesses and tall handsome blonde haired princes. When I think of an evil Queen I picture dark hair, long noses and a huge wart on her nose. In all the books I've read with pictures this is what the characters have mostly looked like. I wouldn't say that fairy tales create our fears of how we should look. I think we rely on the celebs to do that. But there are some similarities. We see that all the super models and princesses are normally very slender and tall with long glowing hair. I think its ridiculous when people think they need to look a certain way to be admired. Why not just be yourself and be admired for who you truly are.
Augusta Holland
All princesses are viewed as being flawless, inside and out. They are skinny, have beautiful hair, and more than likely have big eyes and fair skin. These unrealistic expectations are instilled in little girls minds at such a young age. It might seem innocent, but it can deeply affect them subconciously. The villans are usually hideous, reflecting their horrible personality. They have numerous flaws from crooked noses to hunched backs. It may not be fair but sooner or later, children will be subjected to these harsh truths. Fairy tales might exploit what everyone deems attractive, but they do it in a way that is not as brutal as the media. I think it is not great that fairy tales can be as shallow as television, but sooner or later kids are going to realize their flaws, and fairy tales can prepare them for it.
I believe that characters in fairy tales all have a specific look. Princesses i have to agree with taryn are seen as flawless. They must have beautiful long hair, small body frame, flawless skin, etc. A Prince must be tall, good skin, nice hair with a great smile. For example the first thing that comes to my head with i think or the Evil Queen is nasty old women, dark hair, with moles all over her face. I don't believe they create fears of body image. Little girls who still read or are read fairy tales do not think of that kind of stuff until they get older. I agree with Courtney i think fairy tales like Snow White started the whole perfect women type thing. Teen girls want to be flawless like a Princess. Men want to be like a Prince except now u add wanting to be an All-American at a certain sports. For men it's all about looks and sports.
Carlos Delgado mon-wed
The heroines in fairy tales are supposed to be slim and dainty and completely helpless to the horrible things going on around them. In the Disney versions as well as some of the Grimm stories the heroine must be saved by the handsome prince charming, and they will live happily ever after because they are just so beautiful, and of course in love- even though the majority of the characters had not met before i.e. Snow White waking up and seeing the prince thought and thought that he was good enough looking decided to marry him. The only exception that I can think of in the fairy tale realm that a heroine comes into her own and saves the day is Gretel, she steps up to the plate after her brother proves himself useless after his ordeal with the terrible and horrible witch that held them captive.
Young girls do not look to the fairy tales of hundreds of years ago in order to determine what kind of person is beautiful or ugly. Even the evil queen in “Snow White” is beautiful, but her problem is that she was proud. I don’t think that it matters what a character looks like in fairy tales, as long as they have a good character.
I believe the image of fairy tale characters is to some extent set. The handsome prince and the beautiful princess or the hideous witch but it is left to your imagination to decide what handsome or hideous looks like. I don’t really believe modern day princesses have a big impact on the way we see our own body image. In general we have always worried about body image; consequently we have learned body image from our parents. Fairy tales do not create the fears but they do throw up a “mirror” to them. Fairy tales not only mirror body image but also the scary things in the closet (witches and such). If fairy tales had some power over our thoughts we would all be sitting around waiting for prince charming. Besides that has anyone taken a look at Fiona from “Shrek”? Fiona is a princess, yet she is big and green. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I really don’t think anyone got up this morning, looked in the mirror and said “I wish I was ugly." It’s in our genes; if you did not want to be beautiful people would think something was wrong with you.
A. Freel
What I think about characters in fairy tales is that they are supposed to have a perfect body image. For example, princesses are supposed to be beatiful, with long hair, and a slim body. While, princes are supposed to look as the most handsome people in the land and above all very rich. And of course, when I heard the word "witch" in fairy tales, a lot of images come out my mind that describe the witch as the ugliest, the must unfair, and the most evil. Through these characteristics that describe every character in fairy tales, children used to act or imitate them. For example, young girls always want to dress as a princess, act as a pricess, and even sing as a princess. Through this kind of examples characters in fairy tales will always cause a big impact on children's mind, an impact that would by analyzed until they get mature.
F.S Diaz
Fairy tale characters have a specific look. The females are petite and beautiful and the males are handsome and rich. You dont read about any ugly characters unless they are made fun of. Fairy tales make a big deal about body image. It seems like thats all that matters. Middle class and wealthy people are concerned about their appearance more than they should be and should really focus on inner beauty rather than what a person looks like on the outside. But what does that say about our culture?
Many fairy tales, Disney especially, all have characters who share similar characteristics. Rarely will a person read a story about a princess who is ugly and overweight. Instead, they are always beautiful and petite and are always gifted with the ability to sing perfectly. Princes are also always portrayed as tall and handsome, never short and pudgy. Because of this, children may develop a biased view on what beauty is thinking that this is what beauty is supposed to look like. It also may have serious consequences because children may develop eating disorders in fear that they may gain too much weight.
Kascha H.
When I was a little girl, it was an automatic to me that a prince was supposed to be handsome and a princess was supposed to be beautiful. By handsome, I mean a thick head of hair, no receeding hairline, tan, muscular body, and tall with a charasmatic personality. By beautiful, I mean long, flowy hair, big eyes, skinny, but with an hour glass figure, a sweet delicate voice, and good hearted.
I grew up on Disney and it was my introduction to fairytales, unfortunately I was never aware of the Brothers Grimm versions until my W131 class. So when all you know is what has been presented to you by Disney, you can't help but expect the prince and princess to look a certain way.
People like to see things that are easy on the eye, whether it be in human form or animated. So when Dreamworks Animation came out with Shrek, a movie where the leading male was an ogre and the princess was a full figured green ogress, I was happy to see that the typical norm was being changed. Sure it is a small change, but a change none the less.
-D.Giles
Disney fairy tales are ALL about BEAUTY!! That is a given. It was because of those movies that I personally didn’t think of myself as a princess growing up until Aladdin came out. I grew up on Disney movies and they all seemed—I was young but not stupid—to have made their princesses and princes with a mold. The heroines had beautiful hair, sparkly light eyes, tiny wastes, they were fair-skinned, and they were all gorgeous to look at. The princes were all tall dark and handsome. I obviously never wanted to be a prince. But at the same time, I never thought I could fit the profile to be a princess. I was not light-skinned, I did not have big light-colored eyes, didn’t have that long flowing hair either. I never felt I was pretty enough to be a princess. Enough of my sob story, my point is that it was because of the images that these movies put out there—without thinking that beauty goes beyond light skin or blue eyes—that insecurity begins without the person being aware of it. That is what truly infuriates me about Disney. I love their movies, however I don’t necessarily agree with their ideals. That is the reason why I was so happy that Disney came out with Aladdin because for once, the princess was not Barbie’s twin. Like me, I’m sure there are many little girls out there who want to grow up to be a princess. That is not necessarily wrong. What I don’t like is that we, as a society, are slowly turning these girls into superficial women. What needs to be understood is that yes, body image is important. It is important because of health reasons contrary to popular belief.
Talhia Flores
If you were looking for the answers to these questions in the fairy tales themselves you won’t find it. Most fairy tale characters are not described by many physical features, if any at all. The images that artists create are what has been used to set the standard of the beauty (or ugliness) of the characters of these stories. And these images are derived from what the media of that time had been pushing as beautiful, whether it be a full-figured girl during the Depression era or the 10 inch waisted Princesses in the Disney movies today. If we were to just read fairy tales and not look at the images of what supposed “beauty” is all around us, people may have a more diverse standard for beauty.
I think most fairy tale characters can be imagined to fit our own specifics of beauty. I think you can interpret them all, even Snow White. Sure Snow White needs to have pale skin, red lips, and black hair but that still leaves a LOT to the imagination. I do not think that the fairy tales are the origin of body image, I think we made up how the herioines/heroes looked based on our own culture's ideals about beauty. They are essentially "mirrors" of what we think the perfect woman/man is. For example this picture of Snow White was done by Disney when the fairy tale was mainstreamed so to speak http://www.cardboardcutouts.com/0638%20Snow%20White.jpg .
This is an illustration of Snow White by Walter Crane http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/sevendwarfs/cranesnow1.html .
In the second one she isn't really that beautiful or anything. She looks very average. In the Disney version she is pretty, innocent, and kind looking. She embodies the things that we attribute to heriones.
Heather V.
It is obvious that fairy tale characters have a specific look with similar features. The women in these tales, typically the main characters, are always beautiful. The main character in the tale Beauty in the Beast is even named “Beauty.” Throughout the story it is stressed how beautiful this woman is. Another example is the story of Sleeping Beauty, it is once again reiterated several times that this main character is beautiful. Here is another story where the word “Beauty” is in the title. In Snow White descriptions of Snow Whites beautiful features are repeated over and over again, and we are also told several times that she is the fairest in the land. In the pictures based on these stories, these women are all beautiful creatures with the same similar features. Then we of course have the Disney movies where the characters are beautiful with wavy gorgeous hair, huge eyes, little noses, full lips, and slender bodies. While some people may feel this is harmful to our children, especially young girls, it has to be said that the storytellers, the writers, the artists, and the producers are giving their audiences what they want. While many women complain of the unhealthy body images that these stories display, I do not know of many people who relate to or respond better to an overweight princess or a prince charming with bad skin. I have to say honestly that I don’t! I do not see there being an overwhelmingly popular Disney cartoon that features an ugly, chunky, main character with a wart on her nose. While they may set unrealistic standards fairy tales, stories, and even Disney movies are an escape where reality is not expected. In addition, while these women may be portrayed as unrealistically gorgeous they are also shown as having many other good qualities. Sleeping Beauty was “kind, charming, and sensible.” Beauty from Beauty and the Beast was very virtuous and always thinking of others, including taking care of the household after her father lost his money and giving up her life to save her father. While these physical traits are sometimes unrealistic and potentially unhealthy, there are positives to these characters that can be relatable for some young women. Maybe we should stop being so critical all the time and attempt to enjoy a tale or get lost in a cheesy cartoon once in a while.
R. Clark T390
It is interesting to read the backlash against the critical eye which questions the beauty ideal in fairytales. The notion that beauty ideals is a female gendered issue only as not true, but it is where we see the notion of "beauty" most explicitly. This ideal effects everyone with which society comes into contact with.
I am a firm believer that these images of idealized physical appearance both reproduces and creates unrealistic goals. On one hand, these ideals have spurred the creativity of many poets, artists, and writers. But they have also sanctioned the creation and growth of the beauty-industrial complex. This is the idea that it is in fact possible to achieve physical perfection, but only if you buy and consume a certain set of products, will you achieve said ideal.
Ideals in themselves are problematic, but as I see it, the real problem comes when the capitalist market has manipulated this image to produce and sell goods and services. The ideal exists and is reproduced to sell women (and increasingly, men) line after line of pointless products which we have been tricked (and tricked ourselves) into thinking we need in order to achieve beauty.
The fact is that we cannot possibly imagine what the Wicked Queen, Snow White, or the Prince would look like because they are direct constructions of the ideal (or the ideal's opposite depending on the alignment of the character).
The "critical" eye is one that should be valued and fostered in more members of society. Seeing beyond the surface, of how beauty functions for example, is not a failing, but a more nuanced way of understanding how culture shapes people, and how people reproduce culture.
When we think of the princesses and princes of the fairy tales that we read they are perceived as beautiful; princesses with long, flowing hair and flawless faces with flawless complexions; princes with chiseled cut faces, and masculine bodies. Whether or not this is the intention of the author, it is thought of just the same. This vision is then instilled in the visions of our young people, causing them to believe that this is the way that they are to look and they are to act with the grace of the nobility.
I don’t believe that this is a total negative thing; however, this gives the young people something to day dream about. I remember as a young girl laying in the grass in my backyard reading about the fairy princess that was rescued by the knight in shining armor and thinking “I know that someday my prince will come…” and it gives young girls the idea that there is someone special for them. Stephanie L.
Unless the fairy tale specifies the physical characteristics of the heroine, I imagine her as a meek, slender brown eyed, brown haired girl in her late teens. I’m not sure where my mental image of this character developed, but I can only speculate that it’s my minds creation of my sisters. My sisters are several years older than I am, and they are the ones that would pull me up into a chair and read story after story to me. Since I had a great admiration for my sisters, I must have plugged their physical attributes into the ones of a fairy tale princess. However, my vision of any evil woman is that of a boney lady with big teeth and black hair. Perhaps the black hair symbolizes the dark side of evil, the big teeth might be a sign of danger, and the boniness could represent the fact that she would not be a comfort to cuddle up.
Vicki G.
I believe fairy tales should look exactly the way they do now in the stories, because it fits the characters perfectly. You have the princesses who have the long beautiful hair and flawless bodies, the prince who is handsome and masculine built, and the stepmother who is mean and not as lovely. I think they portray characters like this, because it gives children’s imaginations another role to take, and it just makes it more exciting to read. If author’s made the characters all the same then the tale would be pretty boring, and they wouldn’t be as popular as they are today. I honestly don’t believe from the fairy tale images that it affects how we view ourselves. For children it just gives them something to admire and dream about when they are in the fairy tale age for the Disney versions. Young girls may go a little further with this, because they are the ones that like to play dress up and be the character that they love. But once they outgrow this stage I doubt they go back and fantasize about being that character in real life, and wish they looked exactly like them. ~Lisa C.
Characters in fairy-tales often have a specific, perfect look. When I think of female characters in fairy tales, I think of petite, beautiful, and flawless girls. They are youthful and graceful in my own depiction as well. Males are often handsome, flawless princes. The appearance of these characters can make all people young and old have a certain idea of what one is suppose to look like. However, I think that it affects females more often than males. Girls from a very young age often read or watch fairy tales, especially by Disney—this gives them an initial impression of what the word beautiful signifies and what they should strive for. I think it is a combination of what is expected with body image and the image fairy tales create that makes people question their own appearance. I believe that there are many things that make people look in the mirror with great criticism. However, often times with children the first thing that they compare themselves to is the image of characters in their first stories read or listened to. Kayla W.
Media and advertising has definitively taken its toll on the ideology of how women and men should look and act. But do fairy tales and their illustrations? Disney? The most popular fairy tales are those that represent beautiful women and are characterized by societal views of beauty. Before mass advertising ideas were based upon social knowledge of who was hot and who is not. Now everywhere you look ideal looks, predominately influenced by western culture, affect the self esteem of women across the globe. Still the most popular fairy tales are those that have interesting morals and a beautiful heroine. The most popular and wide spread today is Disney. In the majority of movies women are depicted “flawless” and have personalities that are empowered by present ideals. I’ve noticed in many of the movies the sexual display of the princess’ outfits and their body curves. Mass production of princess line dolls and merchandise have become the top item on many little girl’s wish lists. Not left out of the picture males figures are portrayed as cunning and heroic princes that are the princess’ “true love.” While we continue to admire the stories and movies we form out beliefs around them without sometimes even wanting to. The unrealistic traits of fairy tale and fashion models have made women question their inadequacy.
I feel as if fairy tales do give us a perceived body image, namely the Disney princess movies. They are all stereotypically beautiful very skinny, and of course, have big breasts. In fact, some might say that the Disney Princesses are too skinny. I don’t think it’s appropriate for young girls to be bombarded with images of stick thin girls everywhere, especially in children’s movies. Kids see enough of that as it is. The princesses are blemish free, beautiful, skinny, and have perfect hair. That’s every girl’s dream appearance. Is it really possible to look that perfect? On kind of another subject, I think it’s pretty sad that it took Disney until 2009 to add an African American princess? I wonder how that made African American Disney princess fans feel. Apparently the ideal princess is white, beautiful, flawless, very thin, and has a large chest. I really can’t stand that, and I wish Disney, and every other movie company, would make their cartoon women look more like “real” women.
Emily K.
It's hard to escape the perils of body image and the impact it can have on little girls. Society is all about plastering "perfect" images onto the minds of adolescents, trying to grow up in a stressful environment. I think that Disney has done a poor job of portraying a good enough life for little girls. They seem to depict the idea that only princesses can overcome their hardships and are those only worthy of becoming something great. Why can’t there be tales about empowered women, as in politics, professional women in the business world, and those that have really made a difference? There is definitely too much about the rich, daddy’s, girls getting everything they want. That has been the trend for practically the entire life span of fairytales. There isn’t anything about a full-figured woman either. What is that teaching our children? It’s possibly teaching them to not eat and spend many hours in front of the mirror, instead of teaching girls to love themselves for who they are.
-Katie E.
In fairy tales, as readers we learn that a big part of the conflict that is continuously alive throughout the tale involves and develops on the idea of body image. In my opinion there is no real specific look for what a fairy tale character should appear as. In my opinion a real character should be admired for the inner ideals and not the looks that are on the surface. This analysis brings up a question about the fighting that is many times seen through many fairy tales in the hope for beauty, but is this beauty that is being fought for external beauty or deep, inner beauty. In the case of Snow White for example, the stepmother is seen as mean and evil, which represents the total opposite of what Snow White is. This then allows me to conclude if the stepmother in a way wished to be more like her stepdaughter not only in external appearance, but also inner one. Which such conclusion then I say that body image is seen as something important, but there is more to it then pure external looks. The typical way that external looks are developed throughout the tales though, do nevertheless, play a major role and influence in the lives of little girls specially. They grow up with these tales because us adults read such stories to them, and they as young as they are start to develop this idea that external beauty is everything, and allows for the shaping of many kids views on body image; A view that many times is carried out through their later lives playing even a major role once they hit teenage years. Jose Magallon.
When I think of fairy tale characters, I automatically think of the women. To me, all though I do not agree with this, the characters always are skinny and beautiful. I think of this because of Disney, but the real versions of the tales also indicate that these characters were beautiful. One of the most universal things about fairy tales is beauty. I believe this is a problem in our world today. This is also true with the Hollywood stars the young women are compared to now days. The young women of the world try so hard to match up to these characters and most of the time fall short. This begins to hurt them as people and the way they see themselves. Some people will do anything to be “beautiful.” This is where we see things such as eating disorders, plastic surgery, and even excessive make up. Women’s self-esteem and confidence levels are dropping and when this happens, they become weak. We need strong women in our world, women who care more about what is on the inside than the out. The intelligent women of the world, although may be physically beautiful, know that beauty should not be of number one importance. Our world is becoming so obsessed with beauty that we forget to look at the people inside. I think that the obsession of beauty in fairy tales has greatly affected women all over the world for many years in a negative way.
While reading the many fairy tales in this class my mind already imagined what these characters looked like. However, many of these images in my mind happened to be the idealistic drawings from Disney. Over the years Disney has adapted fairy tales and imprinted our minds with how a princess, prince or evil stepmother/witch would look like. While they are enjoyable movies, to this day I still love and frequently watch them, the images they create for our young youth, including both girls and boys, are not the best. Yes, the princesses have curves…but with a 22 inch waist! This is something that is not attainable for everyone. The princes have great heads of hair and are extremely muscular. Society already creates enough pressure on people to be perfect and thin, and Disney movies are not always helpful. Just in one of their most recent films Tangled, her mother is singing to her and says that she is getting kind of chubby, or something along the lines of that. The viewer, at least people my age, understand that this is a joke… but maybe the younger ones do not. There needs to be improvement on the way we influence the young on their looks, less attention spent on trying to be perfect, etc. Sadly, though, I do not believe this is going to happen anytime soon.
Gabrielle H.
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