This distinction brings out the feminist aspects of this tale. The heroine in "The Tiger's Bride" is independent, developing ideas of self worth and confidence. Carter's heroine is the complete opposite of Calvino's heroine. While Calvino's heroine allows men to objectify her, Carter's heroine despises any thought of men taking advantage of her. .
Carter engages with the social issues facing women in the 1970s in "The Tiger's Bride" by addressing their sexual desires. This theme is examined in several ways in the heroines' lives. In the beginning of Beauty's life, her mother is haunted by the adultery of the father (page 52). This allows Beauty to become aware of the role of sexual desire in her life. Later, the heroine's transformation is driven by the sexual desires of those that surround her as well as her own sexual desires. The heroine describes the white rose that her father gives to her, as a representation of her innocence: "I was a young girl, a virgin, and therefore men denied me rationality just as they denied it to all those who were not exactly like themselves, in all their unreason"(Carter 63). She pricks her finger so the flower is "all smeared with blood"(Carter 55) which foreshadows Beauty's later birth into a tiger with "nascent patina of shining hairs"(Carter 67). By the end of the story, the heroine realizes that it is not her sexual desire that drives her transformation, but the emergence of her true inner self. A common theme in Carter's writing addresses the lack of strong, self-identity in women. In this story she is clearly trying to raise awareness to her reader about sexual identity. Through viewing sexual abuse in her parents' relationship and exploring her own sexual desire, the heroine of this story is able to come to the realization that it is not the actions of those that surround her that define her character, but hers alone.