Women in Folklore

Welcome!

Welcome to our project! Through our digital research, we examined the representation of women via culture and language. Using folklore and commonly known fairytales, we were able to determine the valuation of female characteristics and understand these norms in a broader societal lens.

Background

The gender roles of women have been predominantly enforced as submissive to their male counterparts. This arises in real-world structures and, similarily, in the art that is produced-- specifically, through literature. Whether explicitly or implicitly, the characterizations of women are meant to show female readers how they're "supposed" to behave. This is done through the innocence and purification of young, beautiful antagonists, while simultaneously villainizing older, more "rigid" women (who happen to be past the age of child-bearing). Folktales are a great source to examine how these stereotypical norms are presented to readers, as they are well-known stories that arise in a range of cultures. By looking at different translations of texts, we were able to get a better idea of what female traits are fixed, regardless of culture, and which ones are distinctive.

Research Questions

Our group's goal was to analyze the ways women are depicted behaving and the implications this has on real-world readers. We ask:

How do cultural translations of folktales act as a lens on female roles in their respective societies?

Are women depicted as autonomous or subdued? What is their societal role?

What are the different female stereotypes that are represented? Does this vary by age?

What role do men in folktales play?

How are relationships between women represented?

What role do maternal and paternal figures play in these stories?

Meet Our Team

Ava Downie is a freshman majoring in the Classics and Anthropology with a minor in Mediterranean Art and Archaeology. She decided to take this class to fufill a general education requirement and also to expand her knowledge of technology.
Harper Morrison is a sophmore majoring in History and Art History. She took this class for a general education requirement but has been pleasantly suprised to find out how coding can aid her in continuing her studies in History.
Briana Bindus is a sophomore triple-majoring in English Literature, Communications and Philosophy. Her goal with this course was to not only fulfill a general education requirement, but to approach her humanities research in a new light.
Teagan Chandler is a junior studying History and English Literature. She took this course as a general education requirement, and also wanted to learn more about efficient methods of researching multiple documents or historical works at once.
Vanessa Martocci is a junior majoring in History with a double minor in Film and Media Studies and Nonfiction Writing. She took this course to complete a general education requirement and along the way has picked up many new computational skills that can be applied in many areas of her studies.

A special shoutout to our project leader Renee Dubaich; thank you for your leadership and all of your help!