"Bring me her lungs and her liver as a sign of her death"(7). This sounds like something from a horror or a murder novel or definitely from something intended for a mature audience right? Wrong, this is a quote from none other than the children's story "Snow White". This fairy tale intended for children is a book of sin from cover to cover.
Children begin to recognize at a young age that people with attractive physical traits go far in life, and we wonder why. Not only due to the obvious influences such as television, magazines and movies but these messages are even hidden in the classic tale we have all been put to sleep with, "Snow White". Near the beginning of this tale we learn that the queen is so jealous of Snow White's beauty that she would even sink as low as murder to become the prettiest.
Cutlery for children. Detail showing fairy-tale sc...
Franz Jüttner (1865–1925): Illustration from Sn...
Snow WhiteSnow White is portrayed as being the most beautiful person in the land, "...white as snow, red as blood and as dark as ebony" (2). These messages teach children young to believe that if they are not the prettiest or the smartest that they will never succeed or win their prince.
Aside from the importance of beauty there is also several references to sexist stereotypes. "'Would you like to take care of our house - cook, make our beds, wash our clothes, knit and sew?'"(15), is a fine example of how the men in this story think the woman should be acting. Later in the fairy taleSnow White is given away to the prince as if she were a possession to be passed around like an item at show and tell. When Snow White awakens and finds the prince hovering over her, he just decides...