Fairytail Feminism

In the article “’Twilight’ V.S. ‘The Hunger Games’: Why Do So Many Grown-Ups Hate Bella?” Noah Berlatski present and comparison of the seemingly opposite heroines from the popular teen fiction novels. Berlatski first makes note of the contrast between the main characters by evaluating their display of masculinity. Bella is described as a helpless annoyance knowing nothing to do with herself. Katniss on the other hand is portrayed as an independent and traditionally womanlike. Using testimonies from other published journalists, Berltaski attempts to display how “so many grown-ups hate Bella.” He compares the opinions of fellow journalists to the opinions of “second wave feminism” which favored masculine over feminine qualities. Present Day adults were influenced by the wave of feminism thus explaining their draw to Katniss over Bella.  Berlatski then questions whether the second wave feministic view would really be a better reality, as he comes to the conclusion that masculinity and femininity complement each other well. All though this article presents relatively week claims and evidence, it is understandable when considering his desired audience as a columnist for a primarily entertainment and news website. The style of writing Berlatski displays is almost opposite that of Deborah Ross in her essay “Escape from Wonderland: Disney and the Female Imagination” published under Wayne State University Press. Appealing to a much more academic audience, Ross offers large amounts of background information to support her claims. She begins by presenting information on Disney’s corporate management style to determine resulting impressions left on children.  She states that the “conflict between control and imaginative freedom” may create harmful impressions on the youth growing up on Disney produced films. Using “The Little Mermaid,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” Ross compares their common use of heroine “fantasizing about a life more vivid than reality.” Ross connects this to early conservative romance novels which taught women their dreams were dangerous and of little relevance. Ross illuminates Disney’s traditional conservative values present in extremely popular films. Through extensive background information and strong claims with ample evidence, Ross effectively portrays the negative impression corporations like Disney are having on Today’s youth and norms in society. These two essays had opposite styles of argument. Although the two authors use similar evidence of feminisms history, their different purpose created different results. Where Berlatski remained accepting of dissenting opinions due to his audience, Ross create strong defendable claims which greatly increased her level of persuasion.