The Negative Influence Of Gender Stereotypes In Fairy Tales

Fairy tales are widely known around the world for being a positive part of one’s childhood. Fairy tales often promote kindness and good character. Although this is true, fairy tales also place great emphasis on physical beauty. Because the beauty displayed is often unnatural and unattainable, the emphasis placed on it is detrimental to both boys and girls. The physical appearance is also often equated with character, thus teaching children that the good people worth emulating are beautiful. Children learn to compare themselves to others, including and perhaps especially to the heroes of the stories they love. If children see they do not have the features that princes and princesses have, they will feel lesser and may develop a series of

This can cause children to form negative self-image issues if they don't look like those “beautiful” characters on the screen. In theory, it is not bad to show princesses and princes with these types of figures; however, it is bad that all of the "good" princes and princesses are depicted with a very similar physique. This teaches young girls and boys that these good characters have ideal physiques, which creates a positive correlation between character and attractiveness. Children aspire to be like these princes and princesses so much that they dress up like them and act like them: they buy wigs and costumes, but eventually realize they do not naturally look like them. In turn, this makes them feel like they are not good enough the way they are, and thus not as worthy as their role models. A media study called the Tripartite Model of Social Comparison Theory was done, which resulted in the discovery of the three reasons people compare themselves to others. The first reason is self-evaluation: this is the comparison of oneself to another based on whether or not he or she is keeping up with the trends. The second reason is self-improvement, which is often seen when a person has a problem and thinks, “What would this person do