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Strong Women in Fairy Tales Existed Long Before Frozen

Teaching Gender Studies via Folklore

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Fantasy Literature

Abstract

Fairy tales represent one of the richest genres to teach. The stories are short, students tend to enjoy the material, and a wealth of resources exists in the public domain. These stories can be used to teach narrative comparison, literary diversity, tale transmission, and the influence of popular culture.1 Yet, as we teach and discuss fairy tales, instructors must take care to avoid indoctrinating students in common misconceptions of the genre.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liberal Arts Division—English, Potomac State College of West Virginia University, US

    Martha M. Johnson-Olin

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  1. Martha M. Johnson-Olin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eastern Connecticut State University, USA

    Mark A. Fabrizi

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Johnson-Olin, M.M. (2016). Strong Women in Fairy Tales Existed Long Before Frozen. In: Fabrizi, M.A. (eds) Fantasy Literature. Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors And Genres. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-758-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-758-0_6

  • Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6300-758-0

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