The three girls identified with the Disney princesses. My youngest sister was Princess Aurora of the Sleeping Beauty, and displayed being playful and an animal lover, seen as playing with imaginary animals that included birds and mouse, dogs and cats. My other sister played the character of Snow White who was very accommodating and seemed to be the one sweeping around their "house." The third girl, a neighbor, was Cinderella who was also "helping" with the household chores. The boys on the side were playing fighting swords and was shouting and grunting. They also appear to be all around the place. As the afternoon progresses, the girls engaged in quiet and organized play, while the boys shifted from heroes to villains, as long as there is active play involved.
These portrayals of characters as played by the children show how models affect their behavior and gender roles. This is not at all different from the gender roles they see as exemplified by their adult models, i.e. mothers and fathers,...
But characters in fairy tales are ideal models that they tend to follow and less taxing than the real adult models they encounter. It is therefore important that values and morals that can be derived from the story and the roles of each character should be explained to children since they are exposed to these stories at an early age. Their perception of reality might be distorted by the fairy tale endings and their expectations might not be met.
Resources:
The Developmental Psychology of Erik Erikson." Educational psychology for teachers.. March 21,2008 http://www.rlc.dcccd.edu/MATHSCI/anth/P101/DVLMENTL/ERIKSON.HTM.
Von Wagner, Kendra. "Child Development Theories." March 21, 2008 http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/childdevtheory.htm.
Von Wagner, Kendra. "Introduction to Theories of Development." March 21, 2008 http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentecourse/a/dev_types.htm.
