An Osaka University sociology professor is making international news for her decry that Disney films Sleeping Beauty and Snow White among other fairy tales serve to promote sexual violence. As Fox News reports, this assertion was first expressed by Kazue Muta in response to a news story of a Japanese man kissing sleeping women on a train. In a tweet linking to the story, Muta wrote, “When you think rationally about Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, that tell of a ‘princess being woken up by the kiss of a prince,’ they are describing sexual assault on an unconscious person. You might think I’m ruining the fantasy of it all, but these stories are promoting sexual violence and I would like everyone to be aware of it.”
After this tweet drew criticism, Muta published an article expounded on claim, writing, “There were many critical replies that state ‘Because the princess and prince lived happily ever after in the end, there is a presumptive consent regarding the kiss, so there’s no problem. However, this understanding of it is actually dangerous. This kind of thinking fabricates the mindset of ‘the ends justify the means,’ and to what extent does this allow sexual violence to occur?” Moreover, Muta argues that such a topic needs to be discussed, continuing, “Under such circumstances, changing society’s recognition of sexual violence is not an easy thing to do. However, we must say these things loudly and boldly.”
You can read Muta’s article (published in Japanese) here.