Being Female

Lesson Overview

The gender roles of women seem to be narrow in fairy tales. Consider the characters we've met so far: Red Riding Hood, Red Riding Hood's grandma, Snow White, and Snow White's step-mother. Females often are wicked witches, evil stepmother/stepsisters, or beautiful, but passive young girls. Even though the gender roles of women seem to be narrow in fairy tales, different versions of the same story often exhibit more diversity than seems apparent. In this lesson, we will read many versions of Cinderella and look at the myth of women and their roles in traditional literature and today's literature. We'll consider how folktales and myths present images of women and girls by examining the historical/cultural/social/semiotic context.

Lesson Objectives

In this lesson you will:

• Analyze fairy tales from feminist and semiotic perspectives.
• Explore female characters in fairy tales.
• Select and compare different versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and/or Snow White.