On Fanlore, users with accounts can edit pages including user pages, can create pages, and more. Any information you publish on a page or an edit summary will be accessible by the public and to Fanlore personnel. Because Fanlore is a wiki, information published on Fanlore will be publicly available forever, even if edited later. Be mindful when sharing personal information, including your religious or political views, health, racial background, country of origin, sexual identity and/or personal relationships. To learn more, check out our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Select "dismiss" to agree to these terms.
Beauty and the Beast and "The Cinderella Complex"
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Beauty and the Beast and "The Cinderella Complex" |
| Creator: | Sheila Houston |
| Date(s): | Sept/Oct 1990 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Beauty and the Beast and "The Cinderella Complex" is a 1990 essay by Sheila Houston.
It was printed in the form of a letter of comment in Dancing Lights v.1 n.10.
Some Topics Discussed
- some things Beauty and the Beast (TV) taught its female fans
- gender conditioning
- women's rights
- changing expectations of femininity and female roles
- with changing roles for women, we have lost some of the ability to welcome romantic love
- having it all
From the Essay
In the mid-seventies, women were told that they suffered from a condition called "The Cinderella Complex".
Its premise was that as a whole, women had been conditioned since birth to wait patiently for their Prince Charming as Cinderella had done.
We were destined to be unhappy until the right man came along. We would then be so grateful that when he found us that we would devote, shape and build our lives around his wishes and demands.
We were all destined to wait for our armor-clad knight to come gallantly riding in on his powerful steed to save the damsel in distress. The Cinderella Complex caused many of us to take a second look at the men we generously shared our lives with and at what direction our life was headed. Most of us found ourselves wondering if we should be sitting on an analyst's couch just because we dared to dream. At the same time, women were becoming an assertive and confident group of people.
We took charge of our lives; we gained knowledge and power in the board room as well as the bedroom. Suddenly, men began to complain that they didn't know how to treat us.
They asked themselves; Should I open her car door, should I pay for dinner, or should I hold her hand in public?
Before I continue I must say that I have nothing against the women's movement and that I am no authority on male/female gender gaps. I will support the movement "until I am dust". However, I am a true romantic at heart.
In my opinion, as we were climbing the ladder of success, some of us forgot to trust our women's intuition pertaining to love and affairs of the heart. I simply want to say that our affair with romance has suffered. Just as we had been conditioned to wait on Romeo we have conditioned to dismiss our dreams of fantasy.
I think B&B has taught us that it's OK to love, to give unconditional love and trust our feelings. It has taught us to dream; that it's OK to wish for a knight or Prince Charming, yet still retain our individual strides what we have accomplished thus far. I personally cannot think of a better emotion than the feeling of being in love and loved.
"Beauty and the Beast" has taught us to forget about our prejudice feelings we once exhibited openly or kept secretly to ourselves. B&B has taught us to respect life. All in all, Vincent and Catherine has shown us to look deeply within our souls as well as within our soul-mates. In essence, B&B has taught us to open our hearts to the world and share. To give back, lend a helping hand to a society that has been cruel and heartless to its fellowman. Out of this has come a network of great strides and commitment to overcome the abuse of children, the neglect of the homeless, protecting the environment, and teaching the world to sing again.
Through our dreams we can only gain a better understanding of ourselves. If we must wait on our Prince don't forget to stop and smell the roses along the way.