An Analysis on the Influence of the Description of Gender Impression in Classic Western Fairy Tales on Children's Gender Cognition from the Perspective of Feminism

Abstract

Feminism is a theoretical system that has gradually been flourishing in recent years. In the study of fairy tales, many scholars have analyzed the nature of the representation of some classic fairy tales on the hegemonic system of male discourse from the perspective of feminism. However, there is still a lack of unified explanation of the impact of children's readers on the formation of gender cognition. Therefore, this paper will use the implicit personality theory, summarize the cultural motif of western classic fairy tales, analyze the text of classic fairy tales, and analyze the impact of the description of gender impression in western classic fairy tales on children's gender cognition from the feminist perspective. The research shows that western classic fairy tales present a tendency to "filling in implicit personality", imposing ideal identities on females, and intensifying the formation of male gaze. All of them are not the embodiment of the solidification of the patriarchal system, which not only aggravates the formation of gender stereotypes, but also suppresses children's opportunities to explore their own possibilities. On the whole, they show a tendency to dwarfing and disciplining females.