Man Versus Woman
“Girls can be athletic. Guys can have feelings. Girls can be smart. Guys can be creative.
And vice versa. Gender is specific only to your reproductive organs (and sometimes not
even to those), not your interest, likes, dislikes, goals, and ambitions.”(Franta 71). Connor
Franta is a gay Youtuber, who became huge for his vlogs. This quote is about how gender
specific roles are put onto individuals just because of his or her gender. This statement
shows that women and men should not be limited to certain roles set for us by society.
Stereotypes are put onto each gender and it hazes people’s sense of judgment. The
following images and variations of “Hansel and Gretel” show how each character is
defined by specific gender stereotype whether it is deserved or not. The males fit into the
more dominant role. The females on the other are described as either damsels in distress or
antagonists. From a feminist’s point of view the males are given the stronger more
dominant role, while the females are given the more passive evil roles most of the time. It
reinforces the idea of women not being strong.
First of all, the male in the stories all fit into the two main male roles. The two main roles
that the male usually fills is the hero or a dominant figure. Hansel is a smart, cunning, and
confident male. He is the one who comforts Gretel whenever she cries and he is the one
who saved them from getting lost in the forest the first time. The father fits the breadmaker
role, which most fathers in fairy tales and folklore do, yet he can not provide the necessary
items in order to support the family. This takes away his privilege to be dominant shown
by the argument against his wife, which he loses. In the story “The Lost Children”, by
Antoinette Bon, Jean is very similar to Hansel, but is more powerful because he ends up
slaying the antagonist. He is also physically more gifted than his counterpart during the
story shown by him climbing the tree to scout the area (Bon 146). The Devil is the
antagonist in “ The Lost Children” and he shows his dominance by beating his wife when
she hides the children from him (Bon 147). This establishes his dominance over not only
his wife, but the children as well. In the story “ Maria and Her Little Brother”, by Laura
