FREE Rebuttal to Toni Morrison's Cinderella's Stepsisters Essay (original) (raw)

Rebuttal to Toni Morrison's Cinderella's Stepsisters.
Although I agree with many of the points that Toni Morrison made in her address, Cinderella's Stepsisters, to the students at Barnard College, I find myself in sort of a quandary. I do not wont to pretend to be as versed in women's rights and social issues as Morrison is, and at the same time I find myself having conflict with some of the statements she made in her address. I agree with the sentiment and intent of her address, and at the same time disagree with the expectations of it. I will try to show that while, in theory, it would be great if women in the work place would not use other women to get ahead or abuse them to make themselves look better, but at the same time I will point out that this is not a theoretical society, it is a factual society where human traits govern the way one interacts with others in the work place, male or female, and that the law of nature supersedes any idealistic views one might have about the corporate workplace in America.
In Morrison's address to the women at Barnard Collage she is trying to provoke the career minded feminist women to not use other women as stepping stones to further their own career. Morrison refers to this as abuse or violence (". Professional violence, competitive violence, emotional violence.) She then illustrates this by using the folktale of Cinderella, and specifically point's out the stepsister's abuse of Cinderella by inadvertently saying that they used her to get ahead. Morrison does not let the blame solely lie on the .
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stepsisters though, she includes the step mother in her audio visualization by pointing out that the abuse that was now being carried out by the stepsisters was a learned trait that had been passed down by Cinderella's true captor, their mother. The author then explains that while this is a medieval tale it is not unlike the corporate workplace in modern time.

1. Cinderella

Cinderella's stepsisters and stepmother were invited, and Cinderella had to do even more work than usual. ... On the night of the ball, Cinderella did her best to help her stepsisters and stepmother to get ready, and all while they teased her. ... When her stepsisters returned from the ball, Cinderella pretended she had been sleeping. ... her stepsisters snapped. ... Cinderella's stepsisters fell at her feet and begged her to forgive them for being so mean. ...

2. Black is Beautiful - The Works of Toni Morrison

In the novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, Morrison provides an interpretation of how whiteness is the standard of beauty, which warps the lives of black women and children, through messages everywhere that whiteness is superior and beautiful. ... "The Bluest Eye" has many elements that relate to Toni Morrison's own personal life. ... After twenty years later Toni Morrison asked herself and wondered about how one learns of that. ... For that reason, Toni Morrison wrote the novel because she wanted to show how much colored people suffered because of the criticism t...

3. cinderella

Cinderella is a good or kind person. ... Like the Cinderella in the Brothers story, she is tormented by her stepfamily, but in Everafter the youngest stepsister show her some compassion and she has human friends, not wild animals, who live in the home and assist her with duties. ... He takes it to Cinderella's house and her stepsisters try it on but it does not fit correctly, so they tear their limbs, in order to get a good fit, they do not let Cinderella to wear the slipper but the birds help Cinderella and finally she is allowed an attempt to fit into the slipper and it fits perfectl...

4. cinderella

The entire fairytale of Cinderella reflects back to the "Cinderella Complex" and why people back then relied on their external selves to get them through life. ... The prince had everyone in the kingdom try the slipper on and when it came to the stepsisters turn they cut their heel and toes off to fit into the slipper. ... The Chinese had a different way of presenting Cinderella. ... Evil was brought upon both the stepmother and stepsister, flying stones killed them. ... Change has overcome the statement "The Cinderella Complex". ...

5. The Many Versions of Cinderella

Cinderella even helps her evil stepsister's get ready for the ball while they insult her. ... In all of the different Cinderella versions, the evil stepmother and stepsisters always oppress Cinderella. ... Cinderella is treated as their maid and is also treated badly by her stepmother and stepsisters. ... The evil stepmother and stepsisters oppress Cinderella, but at the end they receive their punishment. ... In this version, the evil stepmother and stepsisters make Cinderella suffer greatly, but at the end, Cinderella is humble and simply forgives them for making her suffer. ...

6. Cinderella

Cinderella vs. ... Cinderella's (a.k.a Danielle's) true strength was shown in Ever After and Cinderella. ... He eventually ended up at Cinderella's house where her stepsisters tried on the too small slipper. ... In Ever After, Danielle was so brave when she stood up to her stepmother and stepsister. ... Danielle was furious so she slapped and chased her stepsister around the house. ...

7. Cinderella Complex

The traditional story of Cinderella begins with a beautiful, motherless young girl name Cinderella whose father gets married for the second time. ... The sisters wore fine gowns, while Cinderella was only allowed to wear shabby clothes, but even with that she still was a hundred times more beautiful then her evil stepsisters. ... Tennessee Reed interpreted the story of Cinderella her own way in her poem entitled "Disney's Cinderella". ... The story of Reed's Cinderella symbolizes this type of relationship complex with an evil stepmother, and two evil "jealous" stepsisters who all ...

8. Cinderella Literary Analysis

Cinderella, in the Brothers story, is constantly being tormented by her stepfamily but in Everafter the youngest stepsister shows her a little compassion and she has human friends, not wild animals, who live in the home and help her with her daily tasks. ... The prince scours the kingdom for his maiden and once he arrives at Cinderellas house her stepsisters try on the slipper but it doesnt fit properly on either one. ... In both stories the wedding day arrives, as a payment in the form of karma the same birds that helped Cinderella with her dress for the ball came and plucked her stepsisters ...

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