Postfeminist influences on fairy tales, real and imagined: a critical media literacy classroom investigation

ABSTRACT

This article argues that postfeminist influences on the multiple and interconnected narratives of fairy tales, both real and imagined, provide fertile ground from which to consider ideologies related to race, class, gender, and sexuality. It reports on a research the purpose of which was to engage students in a critical exploration of ideologies relating to race, class, gender, and sexuality through classroom discussions of the contradictory discourses surrounding the ‘real’ fairy tale of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and two recent fairy tale animations that supposedly promote empowered princesses. The findings show that a postfeminist lens provides an effective means through which to explore with students the ideologies of gender, race, class, and sexuality, and suggest the need for an intersectional approach and a generational perspective toward considerations of systems of inequality.

KEYWORDS:

• Fairy tales
• postfeminism
• post- ideologies
• classroom research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Shin-ying Huang is an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University in Taiwan. Her research interests include critical (media) literacies, multimodality, and TESOL methodologies. Her publications have appeared in journals such as English Teaching: Practice and Critique, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Language, Culture and Curriculum, and Language Learning & Technology, among others.

ORCID

Shin-ying Huang http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3825-3129

Notes

1 Post- ideologies refer to the understanding that ‘oppression is over’ (Kornfield 2016, 1) and that ‘equality has been achieved’ (Gill 2016, 624).

Additional information

Funding

This research received funding support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan [NSC 102-2410-H-003-027].