Joelyn Annan
FIQWS 10005 – Fairytales and Retellings
Professor Anna Voisard
October 20, 2022
Annotated Bibliography – Cinderella
Research Question: How do fairytale portrayals of passivity and obedience affect real life reactions to abuse?
Working Thesis: Cinderella’s obedience and lack of action can adversely affect the behavior of the minds of those who read it and think this is acceptable behavior in the face of abusive situations.
Leavy, Patricia. Low-Fat Love Stories. 1st ed. 2017., Sense Publishers, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-818-1. Accessed 20 October 2022.
In her book Low-Fat Love Stories, Leavy recounts the tales of seventeen different women and their relationships with their bodies or interpersonal relationships. Nine of the seventeen stories discuss their experiences with romantic abuse, familial abuse or both. Leavy only speaks during the introduction of the collection, detailing her background in teaching [gender, sexuality, and pop culture specifically], how her recognition of the problems in the women she spoke related to herself and how she could not find a solution for it.
She warns against “Diet relationships” where one settles for less than they deserve – the same kind that inspired the title of the collection. This source will aid me in presenting examples of real-life examples of relationships that are affected by fairytales with two stories specifically referencing the fairytale nature of their relationships before the abuse set in. I could also use it to rebut my claim as many of women disengaged and removed themselves from the situations.
Isaacs, David. “Sex and Violence in Fairy Tales.” Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, vol. 49, no. 12, 2013, pp. 987–88, https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.12432. Accessed 19 October 2022.
Sex and Violence in Fairy Tales initially disputes that fairytales remain popular because the main characters ‘all lived happily ever after’ and poses the idea that these tales appeal to something in children. One must consider that the versions that were originally penned were often quite gruesome – not all heroes got happy endings. Isaacs cites Ernest Jones who speaks of Freud’s understanding of subconscious desire, how boys compete with their fathers for the affection of their mother and vice versa with girls. Isaacs references Bettelheim, stating that the outright expression of these complicated feelings would not be well received, so they must be “expressed symbolically”.
How fairytales give life to the complex emotions’ children experience and come to terms with them. This source gives me a strong base for answering my question as there is further research that stories affect young minds – it would not be hard to insinuate that a child could imprint on a character whose situation is similar to their own and emulate their behaviors – both good and bad.
Burgos-Sasscer, Ruth. “HO PERSPECTIVES: REBOUNDING FROM FAILURES.” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, vol. 5, no. 13, 1995, p. 14–. Accessed 20 October 2022.
Burgos-Sasscer offers an inspiring viewpoint in her recommendation of Bettina Flores’ Chiquita’s Cocoon in which she speaks of the cynical attitude that some of us take towards life. When things do not go our way or fall apart, we may give up without much fight which Burgos-Sasscer from “Cinderella Syndrome” as coined by Robert Fulghum. She posits that we should not sit and simply wish for a solution but get back up and try again and again not matter how many times we fall. This source would be good supporting evidence as it mentions the story I am working on in detail and names a real-life phenomenon based on the fairytale which I can use as evidence.
Walkenstein, Eileen. “Cinderella’s Secret: Who Is Her Prince Charming, Really?” Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, vol. 15, no. 3, 2001, pp. 3–15, https://doi.org/10.1300/J035v15n03_02. Accessed 19 October 2022.
Walkenstein details her therapy sessions with a woman named Corinne. Corinne is admittedly a sweet but meek woman who comes to Dr. Walkenstein complaining of headaches and anxiety. The doctor helps Corinne unpack her childhood trauma surrounding her mother, who loved her very much and worked hard but was emotionally absent and Corinne’s subsequent marriage to her surgeon husband George who emulates this emotional neglect.
Corinne comes to understand that though it was not her mother did her best, she was still stunted emotionally and latched on the familiar behavior in George – Walkenstein is vehement in telling Corinne that she is allowed to be mad for own sake, and as their sessions go on Corinne complains less of headaches and anxiety as she wakes up to the reality of her situation. This source would be very useful in expanding on my thesis, seeing as Dr Walkenstein has expertise and certification, her account will prove to validate my point – obedience and passivity can be dangerous especially to children in bad situations.
