The stepmothers of Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel
and Gretel, and so on star in many fairy tales and they are generally evil.
However, the stereotype is undoubtedly biased. Stepfamilies have become common these
days. I don't think many stepmothers are unconcerned with the stereotype in
tales. My interest is how this kind of tales will be altered as the times
change. Tales have changed and will continue to change as people's common sense and ethics
change. For instance, modern Snow White would no longer revenge her stepmother,
also the stepmother would try to expel her but never try to kill her. Cinderella's
sisters in law wouldn't have to cut their
toes in order to fit their feet to the glass shoes nowadays.
The content of the fairy tale stories may
change overtime, whereas the content of literature tend to be maintained. I guess
stepmothers will no longer star in fairy tales in the future because of bias
against stepmother.
Thanks Keith
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