„Clever girls are never much appreciated” – a pseudo-feminist attempt to (re)define the role of women in fairy tales retellings based on the example of The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill and Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani

Abstrakt

The aim of the article is to discuss the changes authors introduce in contemporary retellings of fairy tales. The main focus is on (re)defining the role of women. Attention is drawn to the pseudo-feminist message of the novels. It is indicated that pseudo-feminism appears to adopt feminist ideas and attitudes, but in reality it does not contribute to promoting true gender equality and instead becomes a marketing tool. Such strategy is based on the insincere  or superficial use of feminism in order to gain popularity and profit without a real commitment to improving the situation of women. The following work are analyzed: The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill and Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani.