“Thou art quite safe with me” :Male expectations in “Snowdrop”

This essay will apply feminism criticism to “Snowdrop” in Grimms' Fairy Tales by analyzing male expectations of women defined by patriarchy and male expectations of their own generated by patriarchal ideology.

First， men view beautiful appearance as women’s top priority. Female should be beautiful， sweet， and young if they are to be worthy of romantic admiration.[1]Snowdrop is expected by her mother—the queen of a country to be “as white as that snow， as red as that blood and as black as this ebony window-frame”. Her mother expects her to be beautiful because this is the only way for her daughter to attract men， probably a king or prince in the future， in order to live happily ever after.

Second， men expect women to be innocent， both in the sense of chastity and nativity. When the servant is instructed to kill Snowdrop， he leaves her to her own fate when considering her innocence， both being virginal and naive. The servant’s heart is melted and says， “I will not hurt you， thou pretty child.” This shows another male expectation of women that they have to be innocent ever since childhood， as Snowdrop does at the age of seven. Third， housework， as mentioned above， is a manifestation of male dictation of female fashion. When it comes to the queen’s expectation of maintaining the status of being the most beautiful woman in the world， we may consider it a reflection of male dictation of female norm and fashion. Third， according to the norms from men’s dictation or judgment of women， they divide women into two groups， namely “good girls” and “bad girls”. Patriarchy ideology suggests that there are only two identities a woman can have. Snowdrop accepts her traditional gender role and obeys the patriarchal rules， so she’s a “good girl”.

Fourth， the previous negative judgments of men on women facilitate them to consider women as irrational animals. In the story， the queen is portrayed as an irrational woman who is both feminine and emotional. The traditional role defines women as indecisive and irrationalIn addition， her way of murdering Snowdrop is feminine too. Laces， comb and the poisonous apple at the end are free of masculine methods of murdering. According to the article “Women and Suicide”， two beliefs still seem to influence public perceptions of women’s suicidal behaviors; namely， women choose less lethal means of suicide and， secondly， nonfatal outcomes indicate women have less intent to die.1

The second issue this essay explores is male expectations of themselves reinforced by patriarchal ideology. To this end， we need to look into three aspects.

First， male expect themselves to be biologically superior to female. Patriarchy is by definition， sexist， which means it promotes the belief that women are innately inferior to men. This belief in the inborn inferiority of women is a form of what is called biological essentialism.

Second， facilitated by the sense of superiority both physically and mentally， men consider themselves as rescuers of women. In the story， Snowdrop’s life is first spared by the male servant， and then rescued by the seven dwarfs， after which she is saved by the price.

As we see through the text， feminist analysis focuses a good deal on the enormous role played by gender. What we should do is to take advantage of the strengths of both gender and cooperate but also for mankind.

References：

[1]Centre for Suicide Control， “Women and Suicide.Part 1: Another Look at Methods and Intent” http://www.suicideinfo.ca/csp/assets/alert67.pdf

[2]Doc Zone: China’s sexual revolution， Directed by Miro Cernetig and Josh Freed

Toronto: Galafilm in Association with the CBC， 2007

[3]Grimm， Jacob and Wilhelm. “Snowdrop”， Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Edited by Emma [4]Dudding， John Bickers， Dagny， and David Widger. Translated by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes. The Project Gutenberg EBook， 2008. pp 78-82

http://www.gutenberg.org

[5]Joanne M. Golden and Donna Canan， “Mirror， Mirror on the Wall，\" The English Journal， Vol. 93， no. 5 (2004): 42-46. www.jstor.org/.

[6]Lori Baker-Sperry and Liz Grauerholz，” The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children's Fairy Tales，” Gender and Society， Vol. 17， no. 5 (2003): 711-726. http://www.jstor.org/.

[7]The Bible， New American Edition

http://www.unboundbible.com

[8]Vandergrift ， Kay E. Snow White Criticism (1997) accessed 28th， May， 2011

http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professional-development/childlit/swcriticism.html