An Examination of the Female Characters' Schema Modes in Three Iranian Folk Tales

Abstract: "Māhpishāni" ("Moon-forehead"), "Khāleh Suskeh" ("Auntie Cockroach"), and "Namakī," three popular Iranian folk tales often adapted faithfully in children's picture books, are the foci in this paper. This essay reads the three stories to identify schema modes and patterns of behavior in the female characters. When put together, these tales indicate the maladaptive strategies in the process of socialization that many Iranian girls and women undergo. The schema modes of Compliant Surrenderer, Vulnerable Child, and Dependent Personality very often overlap in one tale and can be frequently traced in tales with women protagonists, promoting key examples of girlhood and womanhood. Toxic masculinity and fragile femininity are systematically promoted in the Iranian culture industry; therefore, it is necessary to encourage Iranian writers, illustrators, and readers to practice collaborative critical thinking as the most effective way of raising awareness about internalized and self-sabotaging paradigms of gender.