Hello everyone, I hope all of you are having an amazing weekend.

In this third post I would like to share with you my opinion about the role of women in Disney’ stories through the time and why it is important to read these books or to watch these movies at school.

Firstly, I would like to comment about the role of each character that you can see below.

Snow White. It was first published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm, do you remember them from the seminar? From all of the fairy tales that I could remember from my childhood, Snow White is without a doubt, the film I used to watch the most. The role of this lady is clear, taking care of the dwarfs, cleaning the house all the time and tidying up. She is a very beautiful lady who fell in love at first sight, which shows that superficiality and unrealism as the only way that she will be happy is getting married with a handsome prince.

Aurora, is a fairy tale based from “The Beauty sleeping in the Wood” by Charles Perrault, published in 1697 and later on by the Brothers Grimm. She is a princess form the English kingdom who has to abandon the castle for being cursed by Maleficent when she was a baby. The three god fairies took Aurora to a house in the woods where she could be raised safely by them. We all know that never happens and she finally pricks her finger on a spinning wheel spindle. She is in a sleepy mode till a handsome man comes and kisses her. The true story is that women, once more, are just going to be happy and safe when they have a man by their side.

Jasmine, is a character from the story Aladdin, taken from “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights” based on the role of the woman in the Middle East, where generally, women are under their fathers thumb, they do cannot make their own decisions to get married or give an opinion about something. In this case, this lady is a princess who cannot leave from the castle. She dreams about the world outside the walls and wishes that she could marry someone she really wants. In spite of this, her dad wants her to marry a man with status as the most important thing that is reflected in this story is the social class that you belong to. Finally she meets Aladdin, a poor and nice guy who wants to make her feel happy showing her his type of life to make her think that to be happy you do not need to live in a mansion or to have very expensive jewels.  However, this story continues to show that there is a need for a man, his love and recognition.

Ariel. The tale was first published in 1837 by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. This tale sacrifices everything to be with a man, her life, family and friends.

Belle, is a tale from the version “Beauty and the Beast”. It was published in 1756 by the French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Belle’s dad is an inventor who gets lost on the way back from a conference. Once Belle sees her dad’s horse without him, she goes to the woods to try to find him. She finds a castle where her dad is. Once she is in the castle she finds objects that can talk and a beast, a nobleman who was cursed by a sorceress when he didn’t want to offer her help when she needed it. The only way that the Beast can be a man again is finding his true love. Belle is a beautiful lady who is locked in a castle in exchange for her dad who is very sick and needs to rest at home. Once more we notice how the role of the lady is reproduced again, being inside a house, keeping everything clean and tidy. The only way she is going to be happy is with her true love even if she has to give up her old life.

Cinderella, a tale wrote by Giambattista Basile who published the story in 1634. Cinderella is a lady who lives with her evil stepmother and two evil stepsisters. She is in charge of cleaning after them, cooking them food and resolving their problems when they have nothing to do with her. Her life is not easy, she lost her mum when she was a kid and she doesn’t receive love from anyone. Her only friends are the animals who come to visit her and sign with her. One day, the prince sends all the young ladies an invitation for a ball. A ball that becomes in a gangway so he can choose one lady from all of them to get married. Cinderella really wants to go to the ball, with the help of the animals she makes her own dress, the one that is going to be destroyed by their jealous stepsister on the night of the ball. Her Fairy-God mother appears to make her a beautiful dress, a carriage, horses, a coachman and footmen. She looks know like someone she is not really so someone can fell in love with her. Finally, the prince sees her at the Ball, dances with her and falls in love with her, love at first sight once more.

Now let’s comment on some new roles the princesses are beginning to have in modern day films. I am showing you just two examples. I have chosen these two because I love these movies and I think there is an important moral to learn behind the stories.

Brave, this film was produced by Katherine Sarafian with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter. The film came out in 2012 in Spain. There is a princess named Merida, she is an archer. The main idea that is transmitted with this film is the relationship that a mum and daughter have and the opposition that sometimes is needed to show what is really wanted. This film helps us to understand the position that our parents need to take and ourselves with them. This is the reason why we have arguments with our parents at some stages but in the end, we understand why they say certain things to us as they just want what´s best. What I like the most about this film is that the princess is now in action, she can do the things she has always wanted to. She does not depend on anyone and a love story is not involved in plot. Merida wants to resolve her problems on her own, finding solutions. If she is in danger it is ok as she can get out of trouble. Merida is an example of the role of some women that have to fight to achieve their aims even when she does not have any support.

Tangled, opened in Spain in 2010. The tail is called Rapunzel, I am sure most of you know who this lady is, it was written by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812. In the film “Tangled”, Rapunzel discovers that it is not just a house that needs cleaning and chores, but something else. She is not really rescued by a handsome man, it is true that there is a guy in this story but she is the one that has to negotiate with him to get out the tower were she is trapped while her stepmom is out trying to find some special paints for her daughter’s birthday. This film draws attention to the power of women as any woman can carry out their purposes if they really want to. The lady that is nothing without a man is not reproduced in this film. Rapunzel can do things by herself, she is clever and she has lots of talents. The role of woman has changed; Rapunzel is not under someone’s thumb.

And that’s it. I hope you liked my post and I would be very happy if you commented on it and to share your opinion with me. I think we have to work with these fairy tales at school to make children think critically about the role of these fairytales in their favorite stories. I remember when I used to watch these films when I was a child, I just to love them and they are part of my childhood. Now is our time to make students think, it is important for them. They need to be able to identify wrong from right, in stories, in films, anything that is related to their lives during their primary education period and, as teachers we help to guide them.

Lourdes