Reflections on the Cinderella Complex:
I wish she had included examples of how she thinks women were not trained to be independent. I agree with her in the fact that women are often looking for that savior in a man, but I take this to simply be the nature of some women. Growing up in this time period, at least in my youth, I felt on the same level as all boys in the push to be independent and self-serving, seeking a partner in a man and not a savior. I think everyone wants to be taken care of in some way, perhaps women more so, but nowadays I don’t think it’s trained.
I never even have really thought of women being dependent on men until I learned about the extreme societal oppression historically. The message in the article did strike a cord with me though, so I may be looking for a savior or looking to be saved more than I realize or will let myself believe. “Hanging on long enough….someday someone will come along to rescue you from the anxiety of authentic living.
An amputation on a woman could simply be the act of dumbing down. As a connection to sections Cinderella, where it says wounds are created with a wish, parts of women are amputated to fit. Women are constantly subjected to expectations. A country comparison: The first thing you ask here in US is what do you do? If you are a stay at home mom or dad, you have to say “I do nothing….” In France, when someone is asked what do you do, they would respond “I am a philosopher!” or something in like that. When the person asked for example actually was employed at Westinghouse, they would still respond “philosopher,” as they are not defined by their job.
There are also pressures on men that can’t be forgotten. Do men have secret anxieties, hidden fears and such like women, who are secretly scared to be independent, because they think they are faking?
A fairy tale is a form of cultural ideology that is inserted into life. It is evident in dolls, on TV, and in news papers. Ideology found in these places makes us wounded and forces us
QUIZ
Jeaneatte Winterson -WEIGHT
In the artistic retelling of stories or fairy tales, does art help counteract ideology? (system of wishes of expectation that are unconsciously insinuated)
What does the artistically re-telling, does art help, counteract ideology ?
Art, and in the sense of art re-telling a fairy tale, makes the previously held beliefs or systems more real to the reader. They fairy tale becomes more real because it is no longer being shaped or actively shaping society, but it is being fused with the re-telling authors’ confessions and vulnerability. Fairy tales are written in read in unrealistic fashions, not meant to be instruction books on life. But inevitably the content and expectations derived from characters and actions in the fairy tale actually do become life and society. With the help of art, the ideologies of fairy tales are taken down through a continuous effort by the author to by authentic about themselves with the audience. There is conscious effort to use the “power of storytelling for its mythic” qualities. I love her argument, or her hope that her voice in re-telling a fairy tale will be heard as true authenticity over the drone of news, gossip, and surface level cultural normality.
A Greater relevance. A changed bias. Self transformation. Even in slightly changing the plot to change ending. Stories are re-told to reflect as well as comment on or change society. Transforming self-effacement to self-assertion is occurring. Fairy tales parade themselves as being blanket applicable, but they are not! We have all been fooled!
