Living a life of sex and danger: women, warfare, and sex in military folk rhymes

Article Abstract:

Images of women and of sex occur with great frequency in military folk rhymes. Women and weapons often symbolize the other and success in battle is often expressed in the same words as success with women. Using this symbolic equation between male sexuality and battle allows the military to turn a man's self-image into that of a soldier and also gives the recruit reasons to do battle. Putting battle into folkloric rhymes makes war less horrible. Sex is necessary for procreation and if sex symbolizes war, war must be necessary as well. The main function of sexual symbols in the military is thus to bolster the idea of the military as powerful.

Military aspects, Weapons, Folklore, Signs and symbols

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Spinning with fate: Rumpelstiltskin and the decline of female productivity

Article Abstract:

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's 1857 retelling of 'Rumpelstiltskin' used spinning to symbolize women's loss of autonomy and productivity. Spinning had long been one of the few activities in which women were allowed to be productive, but by the 19th century industrialization enabled men to take over spinning. The Grimms reflected this change by altering the fairy tale so that the heroine no longer used spinning to assert herself. Modern folklorists, most of whom are men, have missed this aspect of the tale by focusing too much on the meaningless name 'Rumpelstiltskin.'

Grimm Brothers, Spinning, Spinning (Textile)

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Why tell stories about innocent, persecuted heroines?

Article Abstract:

Folk stories about innocent, persecuted heroines kept their popularity because they reinforced the comforting view of the past as a time when traditional social relations triumphed over adversity. Analysis of tale type AT 510, which included 'Cap o' Rushes,' showed that these tales shared a basic theme in which a motherless heroine lost her social position and then regained it through her own efforts despite hardships. Social position is temporarily lost when the heroine must escape marriage to someone she does not love by taking on a false identity.

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