Pick up a handful of children books; you’ll notice (if looking) that most of them depict some kinds of gender stereotypes, gender roles, or even racisms. Where most books show the female characters being dependant on males, in the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munch we see the female character illustrating a much different idea. The Paper Bag Princess is the story of a resourceful princess and her useless prince. The book starts off with a very beautiful princess, who lived in a castle, wore expensive clothing and was to marry a very handsome prince. Until one day a dragon smashed down the castle, burned all her clothes, and took the prince. The princess was furious and decided to chase the dragon. Once she found the dragon she used her creative thinking to trick the dragon and save the prince (who turned out not wanting to be saved). The princess in the book depicts a strong, resourceful, unafraid female that can achieve what she wishes. The story reverses the "princess and dragon" folklore stereotype and respects female characters as independents. I believe we need to see more neutral children’s books or even some with reversed roles so that parents, teachers, ECE’s and others can teach children to be who they are and stand up for what they believe in not just go with what society deals for us.
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