A fairytale named The Story of Grandmother written by Paul Delarue in 1951, is about a naïve little girl who meets a wolf at crossroads on her way to her grandmothers house. The wolf asks many questions about where her grandmother lives, not realizing what the wolf was trying to do. Her thoughtlessness leads to the death of her grandmother and almost her own death. Another fairytale named Goldflower and the Bear, written by Chiang Mi in 1993, is about another little girl named Goldflower and her little brother were left under their Grandmothers supervision but the Grandmother never showed, which was very unlikely of her so it made them suspicious. Goldflower and her brother returned to their home and their Grandmother showed up knocking but something seemed off about her, even then they still let her come inside and Goldflower later realizing it was the Bear who liked to eat children and she had to find a way to manipulate the Bear. Although, in most fairytales the male character has the upper hand in most situations, these fairytales suggest that women even during these times can have control and power. In both of these fairytales Delarue and Mi generate ideas such as how a female’s life is looked upon in the past.

The different genders had different expectations according to their characteristics. For instance, the women during this time period were seen has weak, sensitive and more nurturing, they stayed home and did the household duties. For example, in Goldflower and the Bear the women were the ones taking care of things at home and other people, “Your aunty is ill. I’m going to see her… After penning up the sheep, she shooed all the chickens in the coop”. The women were always told to follow orders no matter what it was. Edward Said argues that “They have the power of description and we succumb to the pictures they construct”, meaning that women have to mold themselves to becoming this image that society has given. In this case, the women in the stories play specific roles based on gender but overcome and take the power away.

In addition, the male being the wolf in the story is supposed to be in charge and have power over the little girl, but things turn out differently for the wolf. For example, the little girl in The Story of Grandmother she meets the wolf which distracts her from what she was supposed to be doing and asks “the path of needles or the path of pins”, basically only giving her two options. The wolf seems to suggest that by taking the path of needles the wolf is in charge, this being that the little girl “transformed simply into a passive victim. The little girl is looked down upon as someone the wolf can manipulate and take advantage of. She seemed to be able to trust him but then as the story progresses things don’t seem to feel right to her. It “is the relationship between discourse and power that decides which one of the many truths is accepted”, meaning that the ways we think and talk about a subject influence and reflect the ways we act in relation to the subject. She made sure that the wolf did not sense anything was wrong and took charge and thought out a plan to get out of the situation without him realizing. So she would not be able to escape he “tied a rope made of wool to her leg and let her go outside…she attached the end of the rope to a plum tree in the yard”. The little girl ended up manipulating the wolf and escaped, the wolf lay their believing he was going to get everything he wanted but she was already gone when he realized something was wrong. He tried to catch her but she was already inside her house. The wolf underestimated the little girl and she ended being in control of the situation, something similarly happened in the story with Goldflower and the Bear.

Furthermore, the fairytale of Goldflower and the Bear the little girl, Goldflower is seen as a weak and powerless individual. Like the wolf, the Bear seems to think he can manipulate Goldflower like he did with her grandmother. The Bear thinks she is very naïve and that the little brother was nothing to worry about considering the little boy cried that he was afraid. Men were usually viewed as strong and masculine individuals during this time period but the little boy didn’t seem to have those characteristics so he believed it was going to be very easy to manipulate them both. Goldflower followed all the specific instructions she was given but “The clever girl stoked the fire brighter and wow, there was a pair of hairy feet! Now she realized this isn’t Granny. It’s the Bear which likes to eat children. She realized it wasn’t her Granny and so she calmly played it out very well. She remembered her mother saying that the Bear was afraid of lice so she pretended her brother had lice so she could keep him safe. She took control of the situation so she had the power, “Power is simply omnipresent. Its threads are everywhere”, meaning power is present everywhere and in everything so Goldflower was able to find the power within herself to get out of this ugly situation. She planned to get rid of him while making him believe he was still in charge. She executed a plan and went outside to go to the bathroom, “The Bear was puzzled”, she had escaped. Although, she escaped that didn’t mean she was done.

Little did the Bear know that Goldflower was smart enough to trick him. She used her power and thought of a plan to get rid of him for good. As the Bear was getting irritated and searching for food because he was hungry and his dinner had escaped she thought to climb up a tree of pears but made sure the Bear was not able to reach her. Goldflower’s “power produces knowledge”, she made use of her knowledge about the Bear to manipulate him to thinking she was really going to get him food with the spear that the Bear brought her to help get the pears down. She through the spear down into its mouth and “the Bear fell flat…the dead Bear. ” Goldflower’s plan worked out for the best and made her brother feel safe. She was clever and brave and was capable of handling the violent situation in which the man could have abused his power over her.

The gender roles appeared through the typical fragile and vulnerable women and the heartless wolf and Bear. Women were seen as naïve and powerless individuals during this time period. The wolf and the Bear were men that had to be in control, they lost that control once they were manipulated into thinking everything was going their way. The women were able to take the power from them and manipulate them for their own safety. These fairytales help to prove that men do not always have all the power.