Jazmin Turner
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David Samper
New Snow White Revealed
“Someday my prince will come”--Traditional fairy tales help children define proper
gender behaviors. Of course, fairytales are not the only place in society where cultural norms
are defined for children; also evident in the movies and television shows they watch.
Nonetheless, fairy tales remain influential stories that tell us how to be masculine or feminine.
Stories such as the Grimm Brothers original fairytale Little Snow-White written in 1819, reflects
societies social norms for women and men. In the Grimm’s version, Snow White is portrayed as
dainty and childlike throughout the story. Countless times, Snow White proves to be clueless
when the dwarfs warn her, “Take care and let no one in when we are not with you.”(Grimm).
The Grimm’s version of Snow White supports the idea of fairytales mirroring patriarchal cultural
beliefs of their time, symbolizing what roles women should play in society, which in the
Grimm’s case, mirrors the role of a “good girl”(Tyson 88-89).
Most fairytales mirror the beliefs of their time, because it is evident that our stories and
movies—Snow White and the new Snow White and The Huntsman movie-- mirror societal
norms today. Updated versions of fairytale classics such as the new Snow White and The
Huntsman (2012) movie portray Snow White in a modernized way. In the movie, Snow White is
shown as a feminine hero who saves the kingdom from the evil queen. But in this version of
the Grimm’s fairytale, Snow White and The Huntsman team together to defeat the queen; this,
in contrast to the original version of the fairytale portrays a very different role for women.
Obviously enough, the role Snow White as today’s heroine is not received without being strongwilled and tough. It is fair to say that compared to the Grimm’s 1819 version and today’s recent
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David Samper
version of Snow White, society has come a long way from the preconceived notions on the role
of women. Compared to the earlier version, Snow White is now portrayed as an assertive
character that in societal standards—is perceived as a “bitch”. Meaning she is a strong woman
with masculine behaviors.
The original version of Little Snow-White (1819) written by The Grimm’s brothers, gives
insight into the teachings during their decade. The story of Snow White from the Grimm’s
perspective tells a tale about an evil queen and her jealousy of the little princess, Snow White,
who she therefore attempts to kill. In the story, the evil queen is so jealous of Snow White that
she tells the Huntsman to take her into the woods and cut out her liver and heart so she will
know that Snow White is dead. Upon taking Snow White into the forest and attempting to kill
her, Snow White pleads with the Huntsman and since she is so beautiful he decides to let her
go. She runs through the forest, happens upon the small cottage, meets the dwarfs and so
happens that in compensation for her staying there with the dwarves she offers to cook and
clean for the men. Afterwards, the evil queen finds out that Snow White is really not dead, and
conjures up a way to kill the girl. She dresses in rags and goes to the dwarf’s house with ways to
kill the child, first with a lace bodice, then with a comb, and lastly with a poisoned apple. Every
time that the evil queen attempted to kill the girl, the dwarves warned Snow White to not let
anyone in unless they were there—but she did anyway. Nonetheless, the evil queen succeeds in
killing Snow White and she thinks all is well until a prince comes and dislodges the piece of
poison apple from her throat and Snow White is alive again, gets married to the prince and has
the evil queen dance in iron hot shoes at her wedding (Grimm).
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David Samper
Snow White embodies definitive women gender roles and for example in Elizabeth Bell’s
essay, “Soma texts at the Disney’s shop: Constructing Pentimentos of Women’s animated
bodies”, she analyzes the locations of genders within Disney fairytales. In her essay, she notes
Snow White especially in the Disney portrayal, there is a clearly defined gender structure for
women—roles that make them feminine and desirable. Now, the Grimm’s version is seemingly
different but still mirrors the feminine qualities expected of women during this time
period―”passivity and victimage”‖ (Bell 112). During the Grimm’s era, not much was expected
of a woman except for domesticity and a pretty face, these traits are reflected upon in their tale
of Snow White. Snow White is the embodiment of what it means to be a girl/woman. Evident in
Snow White, it shows that a “woman‘s appearance is valued more than her intellect “(Tanner,
Haddock, Zimmerman & Lund) — the Queen‘s motivation to kill Snow White is primarily
jealousy because Snow White is the “fairest in the land” (Grimm). Also, the Huntsman allows
her to escape because she is so beautiful; and the dwarves and the prince claim her because of
her fair beauty.
Also, in Lois Tyson’s book, Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide, she discusses
patriarchy within society and also her comparison of the patriarchal ideology referring to “good
girls” and “bad girls”. Evident that in the Grimm’s version of Little Snow-White, Snow White
mirrors the ideal patriarchal norms of a “good girl” (Tyson 88-89). Good girls are defined in
accepting their traditional roles such as being motherly and nurturing. These types of women
are what men are looking for since they epitomize the certain role of a good girl by showing
that they are fit to be wives; in return men therefore hold them to a higher standard by placing
them as valuable. Good girls are often held to a higher standard when they show traits of
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David Samper
having self- respect and mothering tendencies (Tyson 88-89). Obviously in Little Snow-White,
Snow White displays the traits of a typical “good girl” by being submissive, nurturing, and
dainty. Within the fairytale, there are instances of women specific gender roles, such as
cleaning the dwarf’s house, singing and playing with animals, and being trustworthy of the evil
queen dressed as a peasant. Snow White epitomizes the way society viewed women as
submissive, dainty, and ditzy; a “good girl” one that is a homemaker. These traits of a
“housewife”—so to say—teach specific gender roles by mirroring the acceptable norms of
femininity.
Fairytales are stories of understanding, lessons which teach roles of gender in society. In
this case Snow White teaches girls to be beautiful, in the sense that they can only rely on their
beauty. When women rely on their beauty to achieve, they do not acknowledge any of their
other traits such as intellect. It is clear that within Snow White, she relies solely on her beauty
because she does not think intellectually throughout her time at the dwarfs’ house. Three times
she is tricked by the queen who assertively pursues trying to kill her; and every time we see
evidence of her willingness to be beautiful—not intellectual. The lace bodice and comb are
symbols of her attempts to be beautiful—to be more beautiful would mean to catch a prince
and ultimately be a princess.
Peggy Orenstein, a writer for the New York Times, states in her piece “What’s wrong
with Cinderella?”, that society today is becoming patriarchal overrun by teaching little girls to
be princess in every aspect of daily life. She describes the gender specific merchandise and how
society is teaching children to act and take on these gender specific roles by mirroring Disney
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princesses. As Orenstein describes, Disney princess characters are, “a symbol of the patriarchal
oppression” because the fairytales teach girls to uphold feminine specific qualities. Distinctly,
when children are exposed to fairytales that desire beauty as the main quality, we see that
children aspire to look like these fairytale characters when we see them dress up or mimic them
using role play with other children (Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman & Lund). Young girls for
instance find that the beauty of a princess is her only appealing quality-- the only thing that will
give her the happily ever after( because we have never seen an ugly princess) they therefore
transfer that understanding into real-life and apply into themselves. They must be beautiful like
a princess in order to get their happy ever after.
Within Snow White we see evidence of helplessness in her times of weakness. These are
consequences of a princess, for they must constantly show signs of distress and weakness—
inevitably getting the attention of a man. Snow White for example in the Grimm’s tale runs
throughout the forest in order to get away from the kingdom and the huntsman. Shortly
thereafter, she happens upon a house in which seven dwarfs reside. Not surprisingly in her time
of distress, men come to her rescue and offer her a safe haven. Now, femininity suggests that
women are helpless and are constantly rescued by men; this ideal is suggestive of the fact that
women cannot survive unless accompanied by a man or at least saved by one. Constantly this is
proven through Snow Whites actions in the Grimm’s fairytale, because she is unable to make
intelligent decisions unless the dwarfs or the prince is in her presence.
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Researchers Dr. Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman, and Dr. Lund conducted research for
their journal, Images of couples and Families in Disney feature-length animated films. American
Journal of Family Therapy, they researched the consequences and lessons learned by children
who are subjected to fairytale movies. Their research focused on the main lessons that children
receive when watching or reading these fairytales and how they are affected in society, and
how they use them to interact with other children. In their research, Dr. Tanner, Haddock,
Zimmerman, and Dr. Lund concluded that one of the lessons that are learned by children from
fairytales is that, ”Women are helpless and in need of protection” (Tanner, Haddock,
Zimmerman & Lund)— the lesson that is being learned by children who are reading these
fairytales. There is a ripple effect from fairytales into how children interact with each other;
playing princess and having the boy save the helpless girl from a scary character or monster
(Orenstein). Evident in Snow White, she proves that she constantly needs the help from dwarfs
in order to stay safe from the evil queen. Without the help of the men or the prince, Snow
White is unable to protect herself. The lesson that is being learned from Snow White is that
women are helpless without the aid of a man, this is why there is evidence of children playing
save the princess from the dragon (Orenstein), and they mirror the gender specific roles from
fairytales and use them to communicate with each other to learn boy and girl gender roles.
In today’s society there is evidence of a gender shift in that, women are now perceived
as strong and assertive. Movies like the updated version of Snow White and The Huntsman
(2012) show Snow White in a positive assertive role that mirrors society’s expectations of
women today. Different from the older Grimm’s version, Snow White is portrayed as brave,
assertive, strong-willed, and tough—societies description of a “bad girl” (Tyson), or in better
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David Samper
words a “bitch”. The new movie challenges traditional gender roles on what femininity is
perceived as by showing Snow White as a strong-willed woman instead of a submissive and
dainty girl. Snow White rides into battle and defeats the evil queen; she travels through the
dark forest on her own, even stops a monstrous troll in its tracks. These qualities would have
never been acceptable for a “good girl” in the previous version, but now it is acceptable to be a
bitch.
Snow White and The Huntsman (2012) challenge preconceived gender roles by taking
qualities of a “good girl” which is what Snow White was thought to be, and switched them to a
“bad girl”. In Tyson’s book, Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide, she also discusses the
notions of a “bad girl” by describing that “Bad girls” on the other hand are women who do not
respect themselves by showing themselves in a sensual way that attract men; these “bad girls”
are seen as not worthy to men since they stray from society’s’ accepted form of a “good girl”.
“Bad girls” are used since they do not hold the same values as a “good girl”. Bad girls are lowly
and do not deserve the same respect as “good girls”, and they are often discarded because they
do not deserve any better and do not think highly of themselves (Tyson 88-89). It is evident
that Snow White is perceived as not only a “bad girl” in the movie, but could also be considered
a “bitch” for taking on these un-feminine qualities. In the movie, Snow White escapes from
captivity by attempting to stab the brother of the evil queen. She was assertive in the fact that
she had attempted to commit harm to another person in order to save herself.
Snow White is evidently mirroring societal norms of today, for women to be assertive
and strong-willed. She is teaching lessons of what some would consider a “bitch” but, this is in a
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positive way. In contrast to the Grimm’s version of Snow White where she is waiting for her
prince to come (Orenstein), she is making her own journey to seek safety on her own. Implying
that women should not wait for a man to fix their problems, but that they should be assertive
and go out and fix it themselves. Today, it is not beneficial to wait for a man’s support; women
must now be able to provide for themselves. In Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), she
supports going after glory, which in her case was ultimately defeating the queen and saving her
kingdom with the help of her army. The search for glory, which is a masculine trait, is now being
supported by women; glory for women in today’s society is not just baking an amazing cake in
the kitchen, but to achieve a sense of excellence. As Orenstein notes of girls recent
achievements, “they dominate the honor roll and outnumber boys in college”, it is evident to
see that girls and women these days are not looking for a man or prince to save them but that
they are being assertive and going after their own goals and power.
Fairytales and modern versions of fairytales mirror societal norms, by teach gender roles
and lessons on how to interact with others in society around them. Within the Grimm’s tale of
Little Snow-White (1819), gender roles of submissiveness and nurture are reflected within the
tale because of the societal norms that were accepted during their time. In contrast, the newer
version of Snow White and The Huntsman (2012) is an updated powerful version that reflects
on women’s progress and their eagerness to be recognized by society’s standards of a “bitch”.
Snow White upholds assertiveness and bravery within the new story by holding her own
without the help of a man, which was highly unacceptable in the Grimm’s version. It is evident
that now girls and women view different perspectives on what it is to be a woman and which
role to take, like Snow White in the newer version; she is not waiting for her prince to come.
Jazmin Turner
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David Samper

Bell, Elizabeth, Lynda Haas and Laura Sells Ed. From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film,
Gender, and Culture. Bloomington: Indiana UP, c1995.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Sneewittchen, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, (Children's and Household
Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales), final edition (Berlin, 1857), no. 53.

Orenstein, P. (2006, December 24). What's wrong with Cinderella? The New York Times, 6(1),
34.

Tanner, L., Haddock, S. A., Zimmerman, T. S., & Lund, L. (2003). Images of couples and
Families in Disney feature-length animated films. American Journal of Family Therapy,
31, 355-374

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A user-friendly Guide. New York: Garland Pub., 1999. Print.