Cinderella's Male Gaze

Almost everyone in the world grows up reading, listening to, or watching fairy tales as a child. These fairy tales started out as entertaining stories, but as they were handed down from one generation to the next, they slowly became more than that. They have grown to be of great importance because they teach children how to act and present oneself in the world. One such fairy tale is Cinderella. On the surface, it seems to be a simple story about a young woman whose wishes come true. However, the story also reflects the cultural expectations of women’s behaviors and goals. Fairy tales are full of negative stereotypes of girls. It is common in fairy tales that the men are strong, smart, and in power. Women are portrayed as pretty, passive, and powerless. The women depend solely on a man to save them. After Cinderella’s father passes away, she is stuck living with her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Cinderella suffers from all kinds of abuse from them without ever making a complaint. She is forced to slave away from sun-up to sun-down. All of her nice clothes are taken away from her and all she is given to wear are plain dresses and plain shoes. Along with this, Cinderella’s stepsisters make fun of her and call her names. She is too weak to stand up for herself and say no, and her family knows this. They are not poor, by any means. They have enough money to hire someone to do all the chores, but they make Cinderella do the work for their own pure enjoyment because they all know she will.