Talking Points #4: Christensen

1.) "... according to the novels I red my thick ankles doomed me to be cast as the peasant woman reaping hay while the heroine swept by with her handsome man in hot pursuit."

- This statement made just in the second paragraph stood out to me at first glance because it exemplifies the ideologies that are placed in children's heads at the early age of even four or five when stories of Cinderella, or The Little Mermaid are most appealing. I had never really looked into the fact that all the fairytale 'Disney' characters were all young, skinny, pretty girls without any apparent flaws. The idea of being 'perfect' is instilled at such an early age without ever even knowing it.

2.) "She was beginning to peel back the veneer covering some of the injustice in out society, and she was dismayed by what she discovered."

- I had the same reaction while reading this article. I began to see that the stereotypes we have in society in the way boys and girls 'should' carry themselves. I connected this article more and more the the idea of scwamp; in that fairytales are always; straight, white, privileged men saving women. This is true in most cases except for the occasional story.

3.) "I realized these problems weren't just in cartoons. They were in everything - every magazine I picked up, every television show I watched, every billboard I passed by on the street."

- Another aspect I considered while reading this article was that the stereotypes in childhood movies carry over into the media, magazines, and simple ads. It doesn't end while the mind is forming at a young age, 'scwamp' is a concept that never leaves.

This article is one of my favorites because it discusses themes and stereotypes that I had never really read into. I knew that fairytales were very small minded, but the thought that they start molding minds by such a young age never really sunk in. This also plays into the ideas of scawmp and the culture of power greatly.