London - Parents are turning their little girls into “pink potentates” by allowing them to dress up as princesses every day, an expert has warned.
The youngsters - many of whom refuse to take their tiaras off in bed - start to adopt a “princess role” and believe they have a “divine right” to get their own way at home and school.
But Sue Palmer, a literacy expert, says that parents need to stand up to their daughters and draw the boundaries between play and real life, setting out what’s appropriate for every day wear.
The princess problem means that girls insist on wearing their party dresses at all times and believe they’re “rather more important in the great scheme of things” than they really are.
Palmer, author of 21st Century Girls, which was published recently, argues that parents should make clear to their under-sevens that in real life, “dressing up” is just for special occasions such as parties.
A dressing up box of old clothes, fabrics, beads - and even charity items - encourages imaginative play far more than a ready-made, expensive princess outfit, she argues.
In her book, Palmer warns of the pester power associated with the “princess culture”, which is heavily marketed by Disney.
She said: “There’s now an immense amount of prettified paraphernalia out there - indeed it’s becoming difficult to tell the difference between products that are officially toys and the clothing, shoes and accessories aimed at small female consumers.
“So unless parents are careful, the dream can become an everyday reality and their daughter can slip into the princess role on a full-time basis.
“Since princesses are traditionally self-obsessed and high-handed, she may then start acting like a small pink potentate.
“If when she starts pre-school, she meets up with other girls who’ve adopted the same persona, princess culture can begin to threaten parental authority.”
She added: “In recent years I’ve met many moms who’ve told me their daughters refuse to wear anything but party dresses or to take off their tiaras to go to bed.
“I’ve also heard similar tales from teachers, including the reception teacher who confided that she’d had to go out the previous week and buy several pairs of pink knickers - if the five-year-old girls in her class had an ‘accident’, they refused to change into dry underwear unless it was pink.
“The world now teems with cute little moppets, all exercising their royal right to choose.”
The “princess role” is resulting in a reduction in “real play”, as girls wearing fashionable, impractical and expensive clothes are often “anxious about getting them dirty”.
They’re also less likely to use their imagination if they’re presented with a “ready-made princess outfit or doctor’s kit”.
Palmer, who has also written Toxic Childhood, said that some parents don’t know “when to call a halt” to their daughters’ demanding behaviour.
She said: “It’s a slippery slope but mom and dad have to be in charge of what’s appropriate for children to wear.
“You don’t go to school in your princess outfit, you can’t play out in your princess outfit and you can’t go to bed in your princess outfit.” - Daily Mail