Cinderella and Gender

This week I would like to revisit the 2015 Oscar nominated (for costume design) movie, Cinderella. Cinderella is "a tale as old as times" and I am sure almost everyone has heard of the story, but lets recap. Cinderella is an orphaned girl forced to do the bidding of her step-mother and step-sisters. One night she goes to the Prince's ball and falls in love with the Prince, while leaving the ball she looses one of her glass slippers. The prince then goes on a scavenger hunt trying to find the women to whom the shoe belongs too.

The prince displays behaviors that are close to stalking. Stalking is a pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, contact, or any other course of conduct directed at a specific person.

While we aren't sure that Cinderella is unwanting of this attention and search, we can see that in many cases of the world, this is how the prince's behavior can be perceived. The prince also shows other signs of stalking behavior. At one point in the movie, after just meeting Cinderella, the prince asks her name, when they are alone in the forest.

While this movie may seem innocent enough, it has certain implications for the young children that watch it. Little girls grow up believing that this type of stalking is romantic and that they should feel lucky to receive that attention from a man, especially a man of a higher socio-economic status then they. This can also lead to what we call rape-culture. Where acceptances of rape are seen as an everyday occurrence and even a male prerogative.