Cinderella: Stop Blaming the Victim

Disney’s Cinderella has gotten a lot of hate for giving girls a bad role model. But does the movie really deserve this hate? Dismissing Cinderella blames a victim of abuse for her situation and devalues stereotypically feminine traits like kindness, optimism and resourceful imagination.

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Cinderella has gotten a lot of grief in recent years for being anti-feminist, but does the
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movie really deserve this hate?
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The 1950 film is often assumed to be a story about a weak, passive woman who has to be
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rescued by Prince Charming and becomes a rich, happy princess thanks to pure dumb luck and
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a pretty face.
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The film has become a straw man for the argument that Disney princesses are not good role models
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for girls.
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But if we look closer at the actual movie, this is all a misreading that doesn’t pan
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out.
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Painting Cinderella as no more than a damsel in distress ignores the context of her life
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and blames a victim of emotional and physical abuse for being unable to escape her situation.
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This unnuanced view cheapens what is actually an empowering message at the heart of Cinderella.
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This isn’t a story about a man stepping in to save a helpless woman.
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It’s about a woman who faces adversity head on, who chooses kindness and optimism even
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when it’s hard, and who uses her own creativity and inner strength to rescue herself.
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The story of Cinderella is so familiar to us, it’s easy to assume we know everything
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about it and watch the film passively.
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Disney itself now even plays into the Cinderella fallacy, as we can see in The Cheetah Girls.
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“I don’t wanna be like Cinderella / Sittin’ in a dark cold dusty cellar / Waitin’ for
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somebody to come and set me free.”
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But the criticisms usually focus on our culture’s shared interpretation of Cinderella, not what
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the character actually says and does in the film.
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“That means I can go, too!”
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“Huh!
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Her, dancing with the prince!”
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“Well, why not?”
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Sure, the princess culture at large markets unfair beauty standards and other problematic
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ideas to young girls, but it doesn’t actually make sense to saddle this film in particular
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with so much blame.
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Critics of the movie probably feel they’re espousing girl power by attacking the damaging
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idea that a happy ending equals a handsome prince.
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But, counterintuitively, the tendency to dismiss Cinderella is actually a little sexist.
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The character’s chief personality traits — kindness, caring and optimism — are stereotypically
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feminine.
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“Cinderella likes you too!
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She’s nice, very nice.”
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“Poor little Gus!
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Here!”
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Cinderella doesn’t stand up to her abusers in a traditionally masculine way.
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She doesn’t physically fight back, make daring plans of escape, or hold back her tears.
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So writing off Cinderella is on some level buying into masculine standards of strength
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and weakness.
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Saying her traits of kindness and perseverance aren’t good enough devalues femininity.
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And it also unfairly presumes that a victim of abuse should fight back.
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Because we’re primed to watch Cinderella passively, people tend to willfully ignore
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the context of Cinderella’s upbringing and the trauma she suffers as a child.
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Even though the opening scenes of the film literally state that her stepmother abused
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her.
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“Cinderella was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house.”
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Lady Tremaine is lit in a way that reminds us of a horror movie.
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The visual contrast between her and Cinderella makes it clear that Cinderella has no power
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in their dynamic, and she has no choice but to obey.
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We witness a truly disturbing scene of abuse when Cinderella’s stepsisters rip the clothes
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from her body, while Lady Tremaine watches with satisfaction.
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Cinderella’s eyes widen in total terror as she backs away from her stepmother’s
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advances.
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And her expression communicates to kids that Lady Tremaine is as scary and powerful as
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any dragon or witch.
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The black background as Anastasia and Drizella rip Cinderella’s dress frames and emphasizes
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the terror in Cinderella’s face.
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The stepsisters leave Cinderella feeling destroyed, her dress in tatters.
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And the scene leaves us feeling we’ve just watched a violent assault.
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“Through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind, for with each dawn she found
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new hope that some day, her dreams of dreams of happiness would come true.”
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Cinderella has to retreat into her imagination in order to stay sane.
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Our first interaction with her shows her using fantasy as a coping mechanism, and remarking
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that dreams are the only aspect of her life she can control.
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“Well there’s one thing — they can’t order me to stop dreaming.”
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A key thing our culture often misses is that Cinderella’s dreams don’t revolve around
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a man, but around a vision of future happiness, where she can live free from her abusers.
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“If you keep on believing / the dreams that you wish will come true.”
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Cinderella’s inner strength and tireless imagination manifest physically as the Fairy
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Godmother.
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“If you’d lost all faith, I couldn’t be here.”
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It’s when she believes she’s hit rock bottom that her Fairy Godmother materializes,
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and the reprise of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”
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“It’s just no use…”
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— tells us that she is the embodiment of Cinderella’s dreaming or her heart’s wish.
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When she needs it most, Cinderella has willed a loving maternal figure into existence.
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Since she has no real family, the fairy represents her determination to mother herself.
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The Fairy Godmother’s magic works through imagination, creativity, and resourcefulness
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— all qualities that Cinderella relies on for her survival, as that represent the true
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powers.
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Each magical transformation finds hidden potential in what Cinderella already has.
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A pumpkin becomes the carriage, the mice become horses, and Cinderella’s horse, who assumes
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he’ll pull the carriage, becomes the coachman.
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Gus’s transformation especially symbolizes how imagination can help us overcome our oppressors.
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When he’s transformed into a horse, he’s finally able to escape Lucifer’s clutches,.
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Cinderella’s ability to remain positive makes her fantasy of freedom become a reality,
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at least for the night of the ball.
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Cinderella proves that imagination can be power, offering joy and independence when
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the outer world seems bleak, and training the mind to be resourceful.
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“Well, maybe this is a little old-fashioned, but I’ll fix that.”
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So Cinderella’s fantasies really displays of strength from within, not the passive,
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mindless daydreaming they’re often seen as.
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Her ultimate triumph over evil comes when Lady Tremaine shatters the original glass
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slipper, and Cinderella reveals that she has the other.
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Her imagination and inner strength brought her the Fairy Godmother, her night at the
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ball, and thus the glass slipper, so Cinderella provided herself with the one thing that could
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free her from this abusive household.
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This slipper is physical, hard evidence that Cinderella willed her fantasies into a reality.
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A glass slipper is the perfect symbol of a dream made real.
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It’s made of glass, delicate and fantastical, not the most practical footwear — even the
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idea of a “glass slipper” seems otherworldly.
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But it is real.
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It can be felt and seen.
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Lady Tremaine’s act of breaking the slipper is her symbolic attempt to shatter Cinderella’s
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dreams, but those dreams can’t be destroyed.
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So we see that the shoe isn’t a frivolous accessory at all, but the tool Cinderella
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needs to break free.
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“After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull, and boring, and completely…wonderful.”
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For Cinderella, wanting to attend the ball actually has nothing to do with finding a
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prince.
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It’s about freedom, choice, and agency over her own life.
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“Oh, no.
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What do they want?”
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It’s a much-needed fun night off, a much needed brief escape from the oppression of
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her daily life.
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“Have a good time!
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Dance!
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Be gay!
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Now off you go, you’re on your way!”
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It’s not Cinderella, but her stepfamily, who are preoccupied with the prince’s eligibility.
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“Every eligible maiden is to attend.”
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“Well that’s us!”
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“And I’m so eligible!”
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In the scene where the prince first sees Cinderella, she doesn’t even see him.
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She’s enamored of her surroundings, excited to explore a new place she normally wouldn’t
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have the privilege of visiting.
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She doesn’t even realize she’s dancing with royalty.
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“Oh, the prince.
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I haven’t met the prince.”
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“A prince?”
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The unexpected love she finds functions as poetic justice for her cruel step family,
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who are punished for their vanity and greed by witnessing the object of their hatred receive
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the very thing they coveted.
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Cinderella’s good heart makes her capable of true love, whereas her stepsisters are
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far too petty and selfish for a true connection.
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The experience of falling in love is also an unforeseen reward for Cinderella’s righteousness
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and perseverance.
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She escapes her abusive family to start a new one that will reflect her values and understanding
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of what a positive loving environment can be.
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The prince is also absent not just from Cinderella’s dreams but also her final escape.
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Ultimately, she saves herself.
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When Lady Tremaine discovers Cinderella was the one dancing with the prince at the ball,
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she follows Cinderella to her room and imprisons her there, in yet another undeniable act of
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abuse.
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It’s Cinderella who retrieves the key to her door through teamwork with her animal
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friends.
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The term “Cinderella Story” is often applied to sports or other situations when someone
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unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere for a huge win beyond anybody’s expectations.
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But the Cinderella in these stories has struggled and worked to bring about their success.
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So while it may it look like dumb luck to an outsider, the Cinderella is generally receiving
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the just rewards of hard work, grit, humility, and believing in dreams that seems unrealistic,
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all things that Cinderella herself exemplifies.
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“Where?
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In the trap?!
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Why didn’t you say so?”
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Cinderella demonstrates that real kindness is active, not passive.
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Rescuing her friends in this oppressive household is brave and heroic.
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The film establishes Cinderella’s compassion.
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She clothes and feeds the animals, and they show their gratitude by helping with her morning
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routine.
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It’s reciprocity for the care and love she generously offers them.
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When Gus gets stuck in a mousetrap, we see that Cinderella is quick to help those who
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can’t help themselves.
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And she’s spirited — she doesn’t hesitate to tease her friends —
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“Serves you right for spoiling people’s best dreams!”
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— or stand up for herself in her interactions with Lucifer.
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“You mean, old thing!
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I’m just going to have to teach you a lesson.”
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These interactions are important to show us that Cinderella’s not a pushover.
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She knows when she’s being treated unfairly, and, when she can object, she does.
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But there’s a distinction between this and someone who represents a truly grave threat
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to her safety.
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When Cinderella tells Bruno to stop dreaming of chasing Lucifer, it’s because disobeying
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Lady Tremaine’s orders could result in losing his home.
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“Suppose they heard you upstairs…You know the orders.
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So if you don’t want to lose a nice, warm bed, you’d better get rid of those dreams.”
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She knows that Bruno’s situation could become parallel to her own, and she’s been forced
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to value practicality over justice in order to survive.
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Nearthe end, we see a return to the parallel between Cinderella and Bruno
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“Bruno…Yes, Bruno!
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Quick!
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Get Bruno!
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Get Bruno!”
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At this critical moment, Cinderella decides that Bruno should disobey orders, despite
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the danger, because they have a real opportunity to escape.
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Her changed attitude toward Bruno reflects that she’s newly emboldened in own situation.
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But the help of her friends — and her concern for them as well — are key to all of their
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rescue.
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In the end, the friendships Cinderella has built through kindness make her escape possible.
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It’s unfair of us to expect that Cinderella should be able to escape her situation sooner
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just by being a little bit sassier.
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She grows up in an abusive environment where she lacks all power.
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Her kindness and ability to cope through fantasy actually represent her strength and bravery
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in the face of adversity.
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In the time since the film’s release in 1950, perhaps qualities like kindness and
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optimism have come to seem simple, obvious and naive.
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But in reality, these qualities are undervalued, difficult to practice and not at all common.
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This is a story about a woman who is both feminine and strong, who doesn’t have to
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rely on a man, or take on traditionally masculine characteristics, to triumph over evil.
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The movie’s not perfect and certainly reflects its times, but the desire to oversimplify
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Cinderella as backward reflects a hidden disdain for femininity.
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A closer look at the character reveals that this has been a story about a strong woman
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all along.
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“Oh, well, it’s over and…”
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“Cinderelly.
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Look!
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Look!
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Your slipper.
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Your slipper.”
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“Thank you.
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Thank you so much for everything.”