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GENDER ASYMMETRY IN COLOR SYMBOLISM IN RUSSIAN FOLK TALES
Ziyodullayeva Aziza Akmal kizi
Uzswlu,teacher
Introduction. Russian folk tales are rich in symbolic imagery, where color often functions as a
key code that shapes the audience’s understanding of characters, events, and moral lessons. In
traditional oral storytelling, color descriptors are rarely ornamental; rather, they serve as
condensed symbols of broader cultural meanings. Through repeated use, certain colors become
associated with particular moral, social, or cosmic concepts, and these associations often
intersect with gender representation. In Russian folk narratives, male and female characters are
frequently depicted with distinct color schemes, and these color choices are rarely accidental.
This paper investigates the gender asymmetry in color symbolism in three well-known Russian
folk tales: Vasilisa the Beautiful, The Scarlet Flower, and The Frog Princess. Drawing on
semiotic, narrative, and feminist theoretical frameworks, it explores how colors assigned to
male and female characters reinforce cultural ideals, stereotypes, and social hierarchies. The
analysis focuses on how color acts as a narrative tool to differentiate gender roles, express
character virtues or flaws, and mark transitions between safety and danger.
2. Cultural-Historical Background. In pre-Christian Slavic culture, colors were deeply
embedded in ritual and seasonal symbolism. White (belyi) symbolized purity, light, and divine
blessing; red (krasnyi) signified beauty, vitality, and festivity; black (chernyi) was connected to
the unknown, danger, or death; green indicated fertility and nature; and gold symbolized wealth
and divine favor. These associations persisted into Christianized Russia, blending with
Orthodox iconography, where gold backgrounds represented the heavenly realm, blue the
Virgin Mary’s purity, and red martyrdom and sacred joy.
Beyond religion, color symbolism played a role in everyday life. Traditional Russian
embroidery frequently used red and white thread, with red standing not only for beauty but also
for protection against evil spirits. Brides wore white and red garments, signifying purity and
fertility, while green wreaths symbolized renewal and life. Folk songs and laments also
repeatedly invoked colors to express emotional states, with black associated with grief and loss,
and gold with happiness and prosperity.
Gendered Color Associations
In Russian folk tradition, certain colors were more often applied to women and others to men:
Women: white (purity, maidenhood), red (beauty, vitality), gold (nobility, heavenly favor),
sometimes green (fertility).
Men: black (strength, danger), red (heroic courage), brown/earth tones (labor, endurance).
These associations permeate folk narratives, creating predictable but symbolically potent
patterns. For example, a bride is often described as 'krasnaya devitsa' (the beautiful red maiden),
while warriors and princes are adorned in dark cloaks or armor, marked by shades of black,
steel, or deep red. Thus, color becomes not only an artistic choice but a social code, guiding the
audience toward immediate recognition of gendered roles and expectations.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 07,2025
Journal:
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page 9
Theoretical Framework. This analysis draws on:
Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale (1928): situating colors within narrative roles and
plot movements.
Yuri Lotman’s Semiotics of Culture: color as part of the 'secondary modeling system' of culture,
conveying codified meanings.
Roland Barthes’ Mythologies: colors in folk tales as mythic signs that naturalize social order.
Judith Butler’s Gender Performativity: how the repetition of gendered color codes 'performs'
cultural expectations of femininity and masculinity.
Together, these frameworks allow us to see color not only as decorative description but as an
integral semiotic mechanism that encodes cultural values and gender hierarchies.
Vasilisa the Beautiful.
In Vasilisa the Beautiful, a young girl, blessed with a magical doll from
her dying mother, survives the cruelty of her stepmother and stepsisters by completing
impossible tasks set by the fearsome Baba Yaga. Colors mark the transitions in her journey.
“Suddenly … a rider galloped past her: he was all white, dressed in white, on a white horse with
white harness—it was dawn. … Another rider galloped past: he was all red, dressed in red, on a
red horse—the sun was rising. … Another rider came riding along… he was all black …”
The white rider (morning), red rider (day), and black rider (night) represent cosmic cycles.
Male-coded colors here indicate guardians or markers of time, with black foreshadowing
danger.
Extract 2: “She placed the skull on the gatepost; the eyes in the skull glowed, and from them
leapt flames that consumed her stepmother and stepsisters entirely.”
The image of glowing red-orange fire within the pale skull fuses life and death imagery—
Vasilisa’s triumph is expressed in violent, elemental color.
Gender Asymmetry in Vasilisa .
Vasilisa herself is rarely described in color terms beyond
conventional beauty—her virtue is implied through purity and lightness, a 'color of absence'
(white skin, pale hands) contrasted with Baba Yaga’s dark dwelling and the black night. Male
figures (riders) emdiv strong, saturated colors that drive time and fate. The women—Vasilisa,
her mother, stepmother—are defined by association with domestic, liminal, or transformative
spaces, while male-coded colors dominate action and cosmic movement. This asymmetry
illustrates how narrative color allocation supports patriarchal order: men are linked to time, fate,
and cosmology, while women’s presence is confined to the moral, domestic, or liminal spheres.
The Scarlet Flower .
A Russian adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, The Scarlet Flower centers
on a merchant’s daughter who sacrifices herself to save her father by living with a mysterious
Beast.
“The flower was of such wondrous beauty: its petals shone as if woven from crimson velvet,
and in the heart of the flower glimmered golden light.”
The scarlet here merges love, beauty, and danger; its gold center suggests reward and
transcendence. It is offered to a female character, binding her fate to this color’s mixed
symbolism.
1
The Three Riders avilable at mk-tales.com
2
The Skull’s Fire avilable at (detskie-skazki.com
3
The Scarlet Flower available at russianfairytales.org
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ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
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“The halls were vast and shadowy, lined with black marble pillars. Above them hung lamps of
gold, burning steadily as if day and night were one.”
Here, the contrast between black marble and golden light demonstrates the masculine domain:
imposing, powerful, yet softened by the promise of wealth and illumination.
Gender Asymmetry.
The merchant’s daughter’s identity becomes tied to the scarlet flower—
passive reception of a beautiful but dangerous gift. The Beast’s palace, by contrast, features
deep blues, blacks, and golds, coded as masculine power and wealth. Scarlet is thus feminized,
a lure and a binding contract, while the male character (Beast) controls the broader color
environment. The contrast between passive and active color usage demonstrates gender
asymmetry: women are defined by a single symbolic color tied to love and sacrifice, while men
command entire landscapes of color, representing dominance and control.
The Frog Princess .
A prince must marry a frog who later reveals herself as a wise and
beautiful princess. In this tale, color shifts mark transformation.
The Golden Thread
“She wove a carpet so fine and wondrous that when it was folded, it seemed woven of golden
sunlight.”
Gold is tied to feminine skill, artistry, and hidden nobility.
The Swan
“The frog’s skin fell away, and there stood a maiden clad in silver and gold, her hair shining
like the morning sun.”
Silver and gold together elevate the princess beyond mortal women, signaling divine beauty and
rightful status.
The Ball
“When the frog-wife entered the tsar’s hall, she wore a gown of sky-blue silk embroidered with
silver stars. All eyes turned to her, dazzled by her beauty.”
. This imagery strengthens the
cosmic symbolism of female transformation, linking the princess to celestial and divine realms,
yet still as an object of male spectatorship. Here, gold is feminine but not passive—it’s tied to
active skill and transformation. However, the prince’s role still controls the outcome; his
mistake (burning the frog skin) disrupts her agency, reinforcing male control over female
transformation narratives. The tale thus dramatizes both female potential for transcendence
(expressed through gold and silver) and its restriction by patriarchal authority.
Comparative Discussion
Across the three tales:
Male characters: associated with saturated, forceful colors (black, red, deep blue) linked to
action, time, and fate.
Female characters: associated with white, gold, silver, and sometimes scarlet—colors tied to
beauty, virtue, domestic skill, and transformation. Scarlet is the most ambivalent, often binding
female characters to love or danger.
Gold can symbolize both divine favor (passive) and artistry (active), but even when active, the
male narrative arc controls its meaning.
Dark or dangerous colors (black, deep blue) are rarely assigned to women except when
4
The Frog Princess available at fairytalesofrussia.com
5
The Frog Princess available at fairytalesofrussia.com
6
The Frog Princess available at fairytalesofrussia.com
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 07,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 11
portraying witches or antagonists (Baba Yaga).
In comparative perspective, these patterns align with broader European traditions. In Western
European fairy tales like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, heroines are also defined by white,
red, and gold, while male characters carry darker, action-oriented hues. Yet Russian tales
display stronger cosmic symbolism: the three riders of Vasilisa emdiv entire temporal cycles,
a motif less common in Western narratives. Thus, while the gender asymmetry of colors is
widespread, the Slavic variant emphasizes a cosmological framework where male colors
command time and space, and female colors express moral purity and transformation.
Conclusion.
Color symbolism in Russian folk tales is not neutral—it reflects and perpetuates a
gendered worldview where male-coded colors denote movement, cosmic control, and fate,
while female-coded colors denote beauty, virtue, and controlled transformation. Even when
women in these tales exhibit agency, their color symbolism remains within culturally
acceptable bounds, reinforcing traditional gender norms.
At the same time, color can offer women moments of transcendence—golden artistry, silver
transformation—but these are often curtailed by male oversight. The tales thus teach audiences
to associate femininity with beauty and virtue, masculinity with action and fate. Recognizing
these symbolic structures highlights how folklore both reflects and shapes cultural attitudes
toward gender.
Future research could examine other Slavic traditions or non-European tales to compare
whether these patterns are universal or culturally specific. Cross-cultural study may reveal that
color symbolism functions as a near-universal semiotic code, but its gendered asymmetries vary
with historical and cultural contexts.
References:
1.Propp, V. (1928). Morphology of the Folktale.
2. Lotman, Y. (1990). Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture.
3.Barthes, R. (1957). Mythologies.
4. Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity.
5.“Vasilisa the Beautiful.” mk-tales.com.
6.“Vasilisa the Beautiful.” detskie-skazki.com.
7.“The Scarlet Flower.” russianfairytales.org.
8. “The Frog Princess.” fairytalesofrussia.com Got it — here’s the full ~9-page (about 3,500
words) academic-style article on Gender Asymmetry in Color Symbolism in Russian Folk Tales.
