Beauty n the Beast vs Cinderella

I just finished reading Leila S. Chudori's 9 dari Nadira (2009) telling about Nadira Suwandi, a journalist, who gets trouble with her sister Nina and her own memory of her Mother, Kemala.

This reading makes me realise that there is a typical theme in recent Indonesian novels I currently read, a Cinderella syndrome. It is against the famous tale: Beauty and the Beast where a humble woman falls in love with her monstrous-faced kidnapper. Hey wait, the Beast finally changes into a handsome prince after the girl states her unconditional love for him!! Huft, all the same then ;(

Sorry for my stream of thought, but I won't change the title as a proof that I hadn't thought about the story carefully.

So, this is the archetypal theme: a simple, unfashionable woman is madly loved by a handsome, well-established and all-women-want man.

I found this in Esi Lahur's Cinderella Batavia (2011), Chudori's 9 dari Nadira and even in Dee's Perahu Kertas (2009).

What is happening to Indonesian females?

Why are the female characters and the couple's love story constructed that way by female writers?

Is it a representative of young Indonesian women?

Or is it what they dream about?

A utopian one?

Or as a protest against the reality that handsome men will always choose and marry beautiful women?

If recalling Cinderella and Beauty n the Beast's story, this is not only what Indonesian women has been suffering through.

Internationally, the world has assumed that well-known construction. Is it to save or comfort 'kucel' females that they still have some hope to get princes's love? That may be it. However, if so, it means that this is not a real story, only to entertain that group of women.

Beyond the Story

If it is written by a male writer, I reflect that he tries to convey a story of true love expected from women. Again? Men's needs?

It reminds me of an Indonesian traditional folklore: Ande-Ande Lumut. It tells of a young and handsome, under-covered prince who is in search of a wife. A group of sisters fails to propose the young man because he knows that they have given their body to a man who helps them across the river to get through the prince's house. He accepts Kleting Kuning's proposal as she is not willing to be assisted by the river man and she crosses the river by herself. Although she smells and looks ugly, Ande-Ande Lumut marries her for her purity. Eventually, she turns to be the most beautiful woman in the country. Haaah, more a beautiful n handsome flag???

True love?

For who?

Yes, the woman must be madly in love with the man whose quality is on top of the world. It is easy to love this kind of guy. Usually, the guy is described as getting bored of being adored. He is attracted to this extra-ordinary woman because she is unique. She seems not adoring him. She is indifferent. She ignores his fame and charisma. She does not need him.

Ow, this leads to a man's hobby: after the love of a difficult woman.

Another stereotypical thought.