Throughout Cinderella’s secret dream women are shown as unhelpful to other women, even at the beginning Cleis’ stepmother hates her for being more beautiful than her and the descriptions of other women are unkind. This shows how women enforce beauty standards on each other. When Regan sees Cleis in the garden during the party she does not attempt to help her, she just watches as the businessman tries to grab her. It seems like she doesn’t want the violence to be redirected at her, it is accepted as long as it’s happening to someone else. This is also seen when Cleis goes to her stepmother for money to leave, the stepmother doesn’t believe her and thinks that she must have brought it upon herself somehow. The story shows how often the victim is blamed for the violence and that when it is so ingrained in society it is easier to look the other way rather than acknowledge what is happening.
Hi Mary Linn!
I agree with your ideas about the role of women in this story and many others like it. The jealous and vindictive step-mother seems to be a common trope! It makes me wonder whether Portela was trying to say something about the western influence on gender roles through colonization by using such a famous tale to reveal the sufferings of her own people. Are the women being forced into these roles, and is it this charade that leads them to act out in such a way? Or is this merely showing that this type of violence is so ingrained in societies across the world that the fairy tale model still works well in this new context?
This reminds me of Broken Strand, by Mayra Santos-Febres, as the women acknowledge the domestic abuse each one faces, but nothing is done about it. Miss Kety acknowledges Yetsaida’s broken nose, a symbol of domestic abuse, and offers her solidarity, but no help. Likewise, Regan sees the millionaire grab Cleis, yet does nothing about it. In both stories, there is something to be said around the way domestic and sexual abuse is handled. You can go to the authorities because you wont be believed, and when the abuser has money, even if they are charged, money will buy them out. Like you said, victim blaming comes next, and women are left without help. I think both these stories offer interesting insights into how situations like these are handled.