English 495 Feminism & Fairy Tales

In her essay “Innocent Initiations: Female Agency in Eroticized Fairy Tales,” Jeana Jorgensen identifies contemporary fairy tales and its use of erotica to examine female agency in the stories. She questions: “What is the power and appeal of eroticized fairy tales? And how do they portray and affect women?” (Jorgensen 28).

Jorgensen argues “bawdy folklore” and erotic fairy tales have not received scholarly attention because of the lack of collections and the censorship of the sexual content. She quotes Gershon Legman and Alan Dundes as examples of critics whom advocate the bawdy folktales of Aleksandr Afanas’ev. She also cites Cristina Bacchilega and Janice Radway as critics whom discuss the issues of desire and romance in postmodern fairy tales “such as those of Angela Carter” (Jorgensen 29). Jorgensen uses Legman and Dundes because they are folklore critics, while Bacchilega and Radway are postmodernists. She uses these types of critics to show how erotic fairy tales encompass both genres. However, whereas fairy folktales have subtle suggestive sexual content, erotic fairy tales depict sexual acts explicitly.  

            Her main topic of study is the women protagonist in erotic fairy tales that are seen as, what Jorgensen terms, “innocent initiations” (29). The innocent initiations are the tales that “feature a sexually naïve heroine who, as a part of the plot, is thrust into a sexually charged situation. She is initiated into sexual pleasure without knowing precisely what is going on, and she unconditionally enjoys the event” (Jorgensen 29). Jorgensen highlights how these innocent initiation tale types do not have the female protagonist initiate the sexual encounter herself, but has secondary male (sometimes female) characters lead. The passivity of these female characters then leads Jorgensen to question their agency in erotic tales.

            Jorgensen details the modern eroticized fairy tales of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. Mary Shiner’s “Down in the Cinders” has Cinderella “enjoy[ing] her downtrodden state, since she derives pleasure from taking on a submissive role” (Jorgensen 30). This tale uses the step-sisters as the dominant figure and also as helpers. The step-sisters actually help teach the Prince on how to pleasure Cinderella. Cinderella then is a naïve innocent initiate because she “does not make sexual choices for herself,” rather she gets help from her step-sisters (Jorgensen 30). Hilary Rollins’s “Little Red Riding Hood,” “reveals tensions between sexual undercurrents in classic and updated fairy tales. In other words, Rollins does not stray away from the story’s theme of “victim-blaming defense rape” (Jorgensen 31). Red is extremely attractive and she “reflects on her changing body and secret desires” (Jorgensen 31). The fact that the wolf ravages and pleasures Red shows that she is an innocent initiate because she wanted to be pleased even though she did not know it at first. Even when the woodcutter came to rescue Red, she tells him “No” (Jorgensen 31).

            Jorgenson uses other tale types to cement her argument, but her main point is the agency of these female characters. She notices that these female characters are not subjects, but objects—that most of the male characters objectify the female protagonists. Jorgensen states: “This aspect of innocent initiation tales brings up the question of agency, or the condition of exerting power or acting… If the main character of a story is objectified, not acting but being acted upon, then readers are forced to identify either with the protagonist only as a sexual object, or with the performer of the sexual acts” (Jorgensen 32). For Jorgensen, this objectification is a problem because it gives women and men readers a bad example—women readers are influenced to be passive and submissive sexually, while the men readers identify dominating their partners. Furthermore, Jorgensen highlights how innocent and naïve females become an object of lust. “The heroines are sexy,” Jorgensen writes, “precisely because they are naïve. Innocence thus becomes a trope meant to evoke desire in the reader, because within the story, innocence signifies sexual eagerness that is ready to be exploited” (34). This virgin and innocence aspect does not give agency to females because it portrays seem as inexperienced.

            Thus, Jorgensen ends her essay by questioning the values of erotic fairy tales. Although erotic fairy tales have explicit content, they are still scholarly works that can be explored. She urges for questionnaires and surveys from readers to gain insight on how these tales affect the culture. What kind of ideologies do these erotic fairy tales instill?