Snow White and the Huntsman

Introduction

The movie Snow White and the Huntsman tell us a story that after suffered the ravage from the Queen, Snow White escape from her claws and went to the black forest. Because the Huntsman is the only person who has walked out from the black forest, the Queen "hired" the huntsman to kill Snow White. However, the huntsman did not kill Snow White but help Snow White to survive and finally it is the huntsman's kiss that wakes up Snow White. The huntsman taught Snow White the fighting skills and Snow White's ambition is more than to survive or marry the prince but to revenge the Queen and acquire the power back. In this movie, Snow White is a girl who suffered maltreating from her step-mother and grow up to be a brave, strong and enduring girl. In this movie, Snow White does no longer have to survive through prince’s kiss but can achieve her purpose through her own striving. And the huntsman, who saved her, taught her and helped her, is her true love.

In the version of Grimm’s Snow White, Snow White is kind-hearted but a little bit silly. The reason why I have that comment is that I cannot understand why Snow White cannot tell the Queen’s trick twice. In Grimm's version, the Snow White is a girl without learning ability and refuse to grow up. She needs the love and helps from Seven Dwarfs and Prince to survive. But in the movie, Snow White fight against the evil Queen herself not only for the praising from the mirror but the power to command the country. We can see that women, in this movie, are no longer the accessory of the paternity but care more about their own desire.

Obviously, in modern society, we would propose the idea that women can become more independence and fight for the right they deserve and enjoy equal right the men enjoyed. However, if the idea is already achieved, there is no sense for me to write this article. In this paper, I would briefly discuss the history of women movement and deeper reasons why women cannot enjoy the same right as men have.

Background

Basically, there are three waves of women movement in history. The first wave of movement happened before the 1960s. During that time, the women movement is not that intensive. The key controversial point during that era is that “women are born to be free and enjoy the same right as men have”. This sentence was proposed in The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, which make the theme of women movement clear at the very beginning.

The purpose of second wave of movement during 1960-1980s is much more specific. In the second wave of women movement, the progress in gender awareness is to recognize the socially defined meaning for women and the inequality under the patriarchy. People discussed more detailed right of women, such as the right to abortion, to divorce. The progress in the statutory system is to cancel crime of adultery, to allow maternity break, to fight against wife beating and so on. Women are also allowed to have more public participation: vote, work, receive education and so on. After 1980, women gradually understand that first to be a human being, than to be a woman. People started to know that the male and female could have the same personality but do not have to follow the socially defined gender character. Pioneers tried to redefine the definition of beauty and make it popular among modern society.