IndexIntroductionRepresentation of women in versions of Sleeping BeautyPerpetuation of stereotypes in versions of CinderellaConclusionReferencesIntroductionFairy tale characters serve as important role models, shaping children's perceptions and influencing their behavior in real life situations. However, a troubling pattern emerges in many fairy tales, in which gender inequality is deeply rooted. This is evident in the different versions of Cinderella, where the underlying message implies the superiority of men over women. The narratives of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” perpetuate the idea that women should conform to a submissive role, striving to please men while enduring mistreatment. Furthermore, these tales suggest that women's rescue and happiness depend on male intervention, often linked to their physical beauty. In particular, male characters tend to treat women like objects, with no consequences for their actions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Representation of Women in Versions of Sleeping Beauty In an early version of “Sleeping Beauty,” known as “Sun, Moon, and Talia,” by Giambattista Basile, it is described as acceptable for the prince to have nonconsensual sexual intercourse with the sleeping princess. The prince finds her sleeping body in the castle and "...fired with love, carried her to a sofa and, having gathered the fruits of love, left her lying there." The prince is a complete stranger to the princess, yet 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. Returning to the castle, he told her what had happened and “they made a great pact of friendship” (Basile 80). Not only did the prince suffer no consequences for raping the princess, but they married and lived happily until the end of their lives. This is the oldest and most explicit version of the story, as it is 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. Subsequently, as seen in a more recent version of Sleeping Beauty, titled “Sleeping Beauty,” by Charles Perrault, the prince's sexual acts towards the princess are slightly cleaner. In this version, the prince does not rape her; he kisses her after she wakes up. It follows the prince and princess having sex and getting married on the exact same day. When the princess awoke, she responded by “looking at him with such tenderness” (Perrault 86). The prince did not rape her, however, the meaning behind the story is still there. She also still had no problems with the way she was treated and later gave birth to her children. Afterwards, the prince left the princess and their children alone with the ogre mother who nearly killed them. He knew his mother's dangerous intentions, because “although he loved her, he feared her…” and did not take into account the fact that his family was left alone with her for a long period of time (Perrault 87). Sleeping Beauty, "Brier Rose", by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, is the most refined of the three versions. “As soon as his lips touched hers, Brier Rose opened her eyes, awoke, and smiled sweetly” (Grimm 91). The princess and the prince lived happily ever after. It is clear that this story is much more appropriate than othersversions. Even though the prince raped her in the older version and only kissed her in the new one, the same underlying idea is still present. The plot is still 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 thanks 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. Because she is unable to defend herself, she does not take into account the fact that she is unable to consent to sex. The fact that he receives no consequences for his unjustified actions means that he will not change the way he behaves towards women. After the prince has sex with the princess's sleeping body, impregnating her, he leaves her alone in an abandoned castle for an extended period of time. Upon her return and after totally accepting what happened, he leaves her again. Later in the story, the prince leaves the princess and her two children with their ogre mother. He feared his mother because of the family he came from, but "he trusted her to take care of his wife and children for him too, 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 the ogre mother. If he didn't return soon enough, they would all be killed. At the beginning of 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, and then left her and their children alone with her dangerous mother for an entire summer. Rather than truly loving the princess, it seems the prince only sees her as an object, and she is helpless when it comes to how men treat her. Perpetuation of Stereotypes in Versions of Cinderella Another common way women are treated in fairy tales holds that they only deserve love if they are beautiful, as demonstrated by “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 terrible jobs around the house. He 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 forced to do favors for everyone, but the situation did not 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 beg her to forgive them for all the bad treatment she had received from them” (Perrault 47). In this tale the man is completely dominant and the female gets her status only from the man. Cinderella relied on the prince to save her from her evil stepmother instead of finding a way out herself, demonstrating her dependence on him. Overall, this story implies that women cannot be saved from hard times without men, and to deserve saving, they must be beautiful. According to Nandini Maity, in Damsels in Distress: A Textual Analysis of Gender roles in Disney Princess Films,.