I thought some of you might be interested in this piece I did on my other blog last year about how many women are villains in traditional fairy tales. It does frustrate me when women are only love interests or only silly characters and men do all the growing. I’d rather have a villainess with some personality than a bland puppet for men to oogle.
Anyway, was an interesting piece and so sharing it with all of you. Let me know what you think.
I too find it interesting that in most stories centering on females in distress, the villains responsible for said distress also are female; males figure peripherally. In the cases of Snow White & Cinderella, as long as the father was alive, he kept the stepmother in check (for all we know, at least) but once he was gone the stepmother’s abuse of the girl began. But I do know of one film (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in which a major female character (Esmeralda) is terrorized by a male villain (Frollo). The Black Cauldron & The Lion King also have male villains (the Horned King & Scar, respectively) but the main characters also are male (Taran & Simba, respectively).
I’ve heard of a concept called The Wall, wherein a woman by a certain age sees her fertility, & with it her looks, start to fade. Starting at age 18 (or maybe a little before) men put her on a pedestal, buy her drinks & dinners, etc. But as she gets older they show less & less interest in her & don’t do her said favors as often as before. The Wall is not menopause per se, but it can hit just before that. The Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine, Maleficent, et al, represent the woman who has hit The Wall & is jealous of the attention bestowed on females in their teens, 20s & early 30s. Females compete for attention from males, while males compete for the favor of females.