Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
ABC’s Once Upon a Time introduced Catherine Lough Haggquist as Cinderella’s fairy godmother. Instead of playing Disney’s classically oversized, bumbling, air-headed godmother, Haggquist appeared cool and collected, dressed like a princess. And ABC killed Haggquist off in the very same episode. Was she too fit and smart for the godmother stereotype? Haggquist is not the only fairy to suffer for body type. Jeana Jorgensen and other feminist writers have seen the danger of age and body stereotyping entails. Adding to these arguments, I propose we approach fairy tale bodies as a spectrum where personality is attached to body type. Princesses are petite and beautiful, villainesses are skinny and scheming, and godmothers are fat and witless. This spectrum of body images affects both how we perceive others and ourselves in comparison to the fairy tale figures we see on popular TV shows from Fractured Fairy Tales to Once Upon a Time.
Copyright and Licensing of My Content
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Origin of Submission
in connection with a grant (such as ORCA or MEG)
Faculty Involvement
Jill Terry Rudy
Location
4188 JFSB
Start Date
17-3-2016 8:30 AM
End Date
17-3-2016 9:30 AM
Included in
Fat Fairies: Stereotype, Body Type, and Personality of TV Godmothers
4188 JFSB
ABC’s Once Upon a Time introduced Catherine Lough Haggquist as Cinderella’s fairy godmother. Instead of playing Disney’s classically oversized, bumbling, air-headed godmother, Haggquist appeared cool and collected, dressed like a princess. And ABC killed Haggquist off in the very same episode. Was she too fit and smart for the godmother stereotype? Haggquist is not the only fairy to suffer for body type. Jeana Jorgensen and other feminist writers have seen the danger of age and body stereotyping entails. Adding to these arguments, I propose we approach fairy tale bodies as a spectrum where personality is attached to body type. Princesses are petite and beautiful, villainesses are skinny and scheming, and godmothers are fat and witless. This spectrum of body images affects both how we perceive others and ourselves in comparison to the fairy tale figures we see on popular TV shows from Fractured Fairy Tales to Once Upon a Time.