Men and women are portrayed differently in fairy tales. In most cases, they are presented as witches or stepmothers who die or end up in frustration. Among the fair reasons for their presentation is typecasting, where they are assigned the same roles because of their relevance. Due to such similarity, it would be easy for the audience to predict the rewards and punishments at the end of the tales. For instance, old mothers represent fear and anger.
The disparity between men and women is such that children depend on their mothers more since their birth. As a result, women are mandated with much power, which is meant to be exploited in fairy stories. Their figures are also made such that there may not be any collaborations between them compared to men. Men often do not undergo challenges in fairy tales, and as such, it becomes difficult to predict their ending. For women, the monster-like characteristics are predictive of a rough ending.
Women are punished more harshly compared to men because of their anger and continuance quest for power. Furthermore, they use any means possible to ensure that they can escape the societal pressures unto them. Such denial ought to be punished despite having clear ambitions. In some cases, women figures may be associated with manipulation, contrary to the expectations, leading to their punishment. In other cases, women compete for men’s status, which deems impossible in a society with both genders. As such, they have to be punished for their mistakes and denied the superiority being sought. Many fairy tales are similar in depicting men and women characters, and each can be explained from a similar perspective.
