Belle is Feminine and She's Not Weak
I'm still quite baffled by the fact that the word 'man' can be a synonim for the word 'human'. The first paragraph of this entry is not meant to discredit women, it's just that whomever invented english believed that all humankind can be generalized into one gender. The discrimination towards women as a gender is nothing new and it still persists amidst the age of globalization which is supposed to be the dawn of cosmopolitanism. People never believes that women as a gender is an appropriate trait to have if a person wishes to be accepted as an individual in society. Even a successful woman needs to have some men's trait in order to be accepted as a leader. They have to cut their hair short, they have to talk assertively, they have to appear rational. Masculinity is such a despicable thing, they need to call Margaret Tatcher an Iron Woman just to take her seriously.
Is it really hard for modern society to appreciate the feminine trait? For some reason, the prejudice towards a feminine trait is also applied to men. Nowadays, if a man wears feminine cloth or talk in a pitched voice, people will call him sissy, or even worse, gay. People seems to believe that being feminine means you are weak. That the idea of being strong is only exclusive for men. People can't be a woman if they want to be taken seriously. How's that fair? To this, my girlfriend simply said to me, "I may be feminine, but I'm not weak." It's such a strong word, it makes me remember why I'm very proud to be her companion. This same expression is what Emma Watson tries to depict in the new Beauty and the Beast movie. Belle is a 'funny' girl, she loves to read, she loves to think for herself, and she embrace that idea so much, she simply sing along while the townspeople mocked at her. It is for this reason that Belle's existence needs to be celebrated.
Obviously, there is the 'Stockholm Syndrome' thingy that needs to be addressed. While it's true that she fell in love with her captor, it must be noticed that Belle being the Beast's prisoner is a product of her own decision in order to save her dad. She was never being oppressed by the Beast, she was only thinking of a way to help the person she cares the most. Her affection towards the Beast began when she knows that he has the same appreciation as her in the art of literature. She did not stay in the castle because she can't escape, she stayed because she was enchanted by the Beast's library. Her passion to read and travel to many worlds made her decide to stay.[1] It's definitely different with being locked up in captivity. And while it's true that she have the 'every girl's dream of meeting prince of charming,' but who can judge that as wrong? Does a feminist must let go of their feminine trait in order to portray themselves as independent? If that dream was a result of her own independent thinking, then why is that wrong?
In the end, I can say for certain that Belle is not that far ahead of time. However, I can also say for certain that Belle is feminine and she's not weak. She did not afraid to pursue her own passion and she didn't even afraid with the Beast, even less to fall in love with him. She did attempt to run away when the Beast roared at him but it's not because she was afraid of him, rather she was afraid of possibly getting murdered. It's not that she is afraid because she is a woman, it's simply that she is a human who can still value her own life. There is no doubt that the tale as old as time is a tale to be celebrated.
[1] I
must point out that the library in Belle’s village has so little collection in
comparison to Beast’s. The animated version’s library actually has more books
and seems to be a proper library for a village. I must say, the movie’s new
depiction makes Belle’s decision to stay in Beast’s castle more believable
because how can a book worm ever be satisfied with a library that contains only
like ten or eleven books? Why would she want to get back to that library
anyway?
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