 |
|
Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume 4
Fall 2005
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a fairy tale in which children will see many different aspects of gender concepts. Some of these aspects, such as Jack as scientist and Sally as homemaker, play into stereotypical norms. Still others point to more depth of character, such as Jack's emotional vulnerability and Sally's intellectualism. The world of Halloweentown is a world of opposites, where horrible is a good thing and the word "jolly" makes the mayor frown. This may allow children to recognize that gender stereotypic behavior in Halloweentown is to be regarded differently as well. Therein lies some hope that overt gender norms will become seen as the odd prescriptions they truly are. "[Stories] can both contribute to the reproduction of limiting meanings and challenge them in the language of possibility and hope"(Yeoman 439). This film offers hope for a new type of fairy tale that will teach future generations to move against gender norms into a society of egalitarianism.
Works Cited
Enns, Carolyn Zerbe. "Archetypes and Gender: Goddesses, Warriors, and Psychological Health." Journal of Counseling & Development, Nov/Dec94, Vol. 73 Issue 2, 127-33.
Mendelson, Michael. "Forever Acting Alone: The Absence of Female Collaboration in Grimms' Fairy Tales." Children's Literature in Education , Sept. 1997, Vol. 28 Issue 3, 111-25.
Nelson, Adie. "The Pink Dragon is Female." Psychology of Women Quarterly, June 2000, Vol. 24 Issue 2, 137-44.
The Nightmare Before Christmas . By Tim Burton. Dir. Henry Selick. BuenaVista Home Entertainment, 1993.
Prentice, D. A. et al. " What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn't Be, Are Allowed to Be, and Don't Have to Be: The Contents of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes." Psychology of Women Quarterly , Winter2002, Vol. 26 Issue 4, 269.
Rybak, Christopher J. et al. "Jung and Theories of Gender Development." Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development , Mar2000, Vol. 38 Issue 3, 152-61.
Segel, Elizabeth. "Feminists & Fairy Tales." School Library Journal, Jan 1983, Vol. 29 Issue 5, 30-31.
Showalter, Elaine. "Laughing Medusa: Feminist Intellectuals at the Millennium." Women , Spring/Summer2000, Vol. 11 Issue 1, 131-38.
Thum, Maureen. " Feminist or Anti - feminist ? Gender-coded Role Models in the Tales Contributed by Dorothea Viehmann to the Grim Brothers Kinder-Und Hausmarchen. " Germanic Review , Winter93, Vol. 68 Issue 1, 11-21.
Yeoman, Elizabeth. "'How Does It Get Into My Imagination?' elementary school children's intertextual knowledge and gendered storylines." Gender & Education, Dec99, Vol. 11 Issue 4, 427-40.