'Gender Stereotypes In The Princess And The Pea'

The point of children’s books are to entertain, but are they sending children the wrong message? A person’s beliefs and views are often developed at a young age from what they see and hear such as from movies or books. In these books and movies are where young children develop the idea of female and male roles and what is acceptable for their gender in society. Authors of children’s books often give children the wrong impression by giving making the story sexist and stereotypical. Although the story of The Princess and the Pea gave the Queen a voice, the author did not support equality because the women were given stereotypical roles, were portrayed in negative ways, and showed a gender bias toward the male character. In the story, the author displays female characters as stereotypical. This is apparent especially when the princess arrived to the castle because she had stereotypical apparel and she was lost. The story states, “As she warmed her hands and let the rain dry from her dress and

The queen, for instance, was able to share her voice to the princess with her son in the room as well. Even though she is a female, she made it clear that she still had power and control. A line in particular is, “‘You slept fine, you say?’ asked the queen. ‘Well then, a good sleep in that bed proves you are not a true princess. Now I think it’s time for you to leave’” (The Princess and the Pea 17). This shows the queen certainly shared her voice to the princess and the prince about how the princess slept. Evidently, she was able to raise her voice and tell the princess to leave no matter what the prince thought. The queen was skeptical of the princess from the start which displays a typical feminine role of a mother because mothers are always worried about their children and their love interests. In all, the queen had voice and took control of the