The internalization of the male gaze is implicitly shown through the actions of the female characters in Cinderella. In Cinderella, we see the women “preparing and gussying up for the big event”. This act of dressing up, anticipating and adhering to some standard of beauty specifically for the male shows that the women have the male gaze in mind. This is why Sexton cynically called “the ball” a “marriage market”, as women tries to attain the image of the patriarchal ideal female in order to gain the approval of the male, which is signified in marriage. Therefore we see how women have internalized the male gazes as part of trying to get a husband, by wanting to be picked through putting themselves on display for the ball. They objectified themselves purely as needing to fit into the male perception of beauty and willingly offering themselves to be chosen, as if they are products on display. Which is why later on when the prince went—as we all know—searching for Cinderella, Sexton describes it as to find his “girl for keeps”. This idea that Cinderella was for keeps shows how the authoritative male objectifies women. Being objectified is being part of patriarchal identity, which I will explore now.
Sexton reveals how in the objectification of the female, the male enables himself to dominate her, through claiming possession over her, since she has been rendered an object. Through this dominion then, the male could reinforce his masculinity for since he possess the female, he can use her for entertainment or even trading. We see how Snow White, even in death, is encased in a “glass coffin”, to be viewed and admired by all passers-by, an object on display. This shows how, even after death, her value lies in only giving entertainment. Similarly, in Cinderella, Cinderella was described as a “dancing girl”, as if sought after only for entertainment value. Snow White, just like an object, was not only used for exhibition; she’s used as an object for bartering. This is shown in the beginning, when the dwarfs recognized her as a “gold plate”, foreshadowing the transaction that is soon to come between the dwarfs and the prince, a business association between the males. It is notable how the dwarfs said when they Snow White, “it’s a good omen”, using the pronoun “it” to describe Snow White. “It” is a pronoun used for inanimate subjects and by using it to refer to Snow White, and by styling her as a “gold plate”, the dwarfs have rendered her an object. Which is why Sexton labels the dwarfs as “czars”, for they signify the patriarchal authority that is responsible for the value of women in that time. Being objectified, this object—snow White—is used for trading. This trading actually reveals how men views women as possessions, which brings me back to the point of how Cinderella was considered a “girl for keeps”. Here, in Snow White, the use of the word “keep” occurs again. The prince wanted Snow White, “to keep in his far-off castle”. Henceforth, we see how women in a patriarchal system are objectified for possession, exhibition and bartering.
Going back to Cinderella, we see how the ball was described as a “marriage market”. Indeed, Sexton in her retelling of Cinderella exposes the ideal feminine aspiration, which is be chosen to be the ‘lucky’ one, to gain fulfillment in life, particularly through marriage. In Cinderella, Sexton outlines what I call the “American dream”, where women, being conditioned through literature and culture, believe in the “rags to riches” stories. Many women hardly work and dreams of marriage to a partner one day, which will determine her ultimate social position, happiness and fulfillment in life. In her lengthy prologue, Sexton reiterates the stories we “always read about”. These stories, in a male dominated literature, inspire people to gain success and fulfillment without hard work, such as, “from toilets to riches”, “From diapers to Dior” and “from mops to Teller”. She repeats at the end of each stanza, “that story”. Indeed, “that story”, women are familiar with because of the literature we are exposed and influenced by as we grow up. Sexton herself is familiar with it, for in her the Paris Review she states, “until i was twenty-eight i had a kind of buried self who didn't know she could do anything but make white sauce and diaper babies. I didn't know i had any creative depths. I was a victim of the American dream, the bourgeois, middle-class dream. All I wanted was a little piece of life, to be married, to have children.... I was trying … to lead a conventional life, for that was how I was brought up, and it was what my husband wanted of me”. Due to the influence of this cultural mindset, Sexton herself once pursues the American dream, which is to be married and lead a conventional life, to be rather uninspired and unconfident.
Sexton, aware of the American dream, introduces the ‘magical’ dove and maintains her cynical portrayal of it in Cinderella, for in this context the dove represents the American dream. A dove commonly represents hope, and we see how in Cinderella women hopes for good things to drop down from the sky—“ Whenever [Cinderella] wished for anything the dove/ would drop it”. The dove could magically drop down a golden dress and golden slippers for Cinderella, which Sexton responds critically: “rather a large package for a simple bird”, undermining this timeless image. Sexton, in her repeated sarcastic remark saying, “The bird is important my dears, so heed him” exposes how the American dream was built around the male, with the male in mind. The bird may be considered a phallic symbol, the male that females rely on in order to survive. In her gory detail of Cinderella’s stepsister’s self mutilation for the man, where she “simply sliced [her big toe] off” just to fit into the slipper, Sexton shows the extent women are willing to go to in order to attain their feminine ambition which, in Cinderella, is to be married. Like the gory imagery of the Queen consuming a human heart, this gory imagery of Cinderella’s self-inflicted harm of herself shows again how women in Sexton’s retellings of fairy tales internalized are willing to go to great extents to fit into the patriarchal identity prescribed to them which in turns shows the extent to which they have internalized this identity.
Building on to my view on the objectification of females in Sexton’s two poems, this internalization explains the motif of dolls in both poems, where it was used to describe Snow White and Cinderella. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sexton describes Snow White having “arms and legs made of Limoges” and “doll’s eyes”. In Cinderella, she and the prince are “like two dolls in a museum case”. Sexton uses the imagery of a doll to give us the impression that they are deprived of life. This reference was used to show the unrealistic patriarchal output of the ideal female. As we have observed earlier in the example of the Queen, beauty is not everlasting. However, it forms part of the ideal beauty patriarchy desires. Snow White, being the archetype of the ideal female, must have lasting beauty, therefore, she is described as a doll, for beauty is only sustainable if it is not living. Similarly, in Cinderella, Sexton shows that due to the perfect match of Cinderella in the prince, “like a love letter into its envelope”, “never” x4 is there any interaction between the couple; just “their darling smiles pasted on for eternity”. Hence Sexton uses the doll imagery to great effect, for she unveils how the ideal female that patriarchy visualizes is actually more like a doll than a human, an unrealistic ideal. In being coaxed to be like a doll, deprived of independent thought, what Sexton declares an “airhead”, there will be high chances of the female internalizing the patriarchal identity and perpetuating it.
Not only have these two patriarchal notions been internalized, it have been perpetuated through female linage. The patriarchal identity does not come about only from patriarchal invention; it comes about, if not strengthened, from perpetuation too. We should take note that fairy tales is a strong oral tradition that have persisted over time, which is why they are called classic tales. In the earlier discussion, we have seen how women in internalizing the patriarchal identity objectified themselves, and actually passes down and transmits this identity too.
Sexton expresses how, due to the displayed gendered identity shown by the Step mother, Snow White was encouraged in following her. We witness how after the series of events in the poem, Snow White follows into the footsteps of her stepmother in her act of referring to the mirror. States the last stanza of the poem: “Meanwhile Snow White held court…referring to her mirror as women do”. This hints of a cycle of perpetuation to which Sexton thus warns of. Sexton states that the consequences will be dancing “the fire dance in iron shoes”, the imagery of a flickering fire dance that seems to suggest how beauty is like fire, first it arouses excitement but it flickers and dies or a red hot torturous anger the female may feel after being discarded when she no longer fulfills the patriarchal criteria of beauty. Snow White, ending in the line “as women do”, leaves the idea that women, not just Snow White in the story, perpetuates the perceived importance of beauty, just by possessing and referring to a mirror. Hence, Sexton shows how in the simple seemingly innocent act of referring to the mirror and wondering if we look good, we might actually base it back on some kind of cultural standards of beauty that we may have unknowingly internalized, which may actually be invented by some patriarchy back in time.
Family structure also perpetuates gender roles across the generations, largely due to the strength of the bond between the mother and the daughter. In Cinderella, Cinderella’s mother tells her to be “devout, be good” a traditional role and expectation which will guarantee her marriage and fulfillment in the end. Women acts as transmitters of knowledge about gender relationships; Not only does family structure perpetuates patriarchal identity, the women’s active participating in interactive activity shows how they accept their gender roles being given to them, which in turn reinforces their gender and identity. The fact that “everyone” in Cinderella was gussying for the ball shows how women were active participants in this event and this agreement of marriage as a career by the majority suggest a continual perpetuation that will be hard to break.
Also, there is a double layered perpetuation, as while we see the perpetuation within the fairy tale, where the daughter follows the role model, the informer of patriarchal values, in real life, the mother is relaying these stories to her daughter at bed time. This acts as a parallel to the perpetuation in the story itself, encouraging the daughter to follow the values the mother has internalized. Sexton attempts then, to break this perpetuation, through her unapologetic description of the story and reading the fairy tales to us in a very stark and naked form, free of magic and imaginations. For example, she uses disdainful and unapologetic images such as the vacant-eyed and vacant mind motif of dolls to explicitly show us how women are objectified in a patriarchal system as discussed earlier. She also chooses to put a prologue before the stories, which we keep in mind as we read her rewriting of the fairy tale following it. Even though the tales are transcended through time through the use of the word “once”, her tone remains, which is a very important and significant factor as her cynical, stark and apologetic tone, such as calling Snow White “dumb bunny” or the sarcastic remark that “the bird is important.. so heed him” constantly halts the magical allure of fairy tales and their true misogynistic nature.
To conclude, Sexton in her rewriting of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, reveals two significant patriarchal values contributing to the patriarchal identity that women internalized and perpetuated through linage, which are ideal beauty and ideal aspirations. These have been internalized to the point where the female not only objectified themselves, she may also, allow me to claim, lose herself, for she willingly consumes a heart or slice off a body part. Those gory imageries women engage in serves to shock us; to see the extent to which women internalized the patriarchal identity. Not only have the female internalized it, she perpetuated the values of the patriarchal identity, through female linage. Therefore, Sexton, in her retellings, defamiliarizes what we are familiar with and deconstructed what many of us believed and accepted as we grew up. She lets us know that by wanting to be fair and relying on the male, we are being unfair to ourselves.
