1. Vymezení řešené problematiky a základních pojmů (dle tématu práce) Fairy Tales have always been the very first kind of literature with which children meet. They listen to their parents' telling or reading the stories or they simply watch some fairy tales on television. The children come into contact with them so often that we cannot be surprised that they are also formed by them, especially by the way the stories portray the behaviour of people. 2. Shrnutí dosavadního stavu řešení či poznání (stručná rešerše, východisko pro cíl práce, formulace výzkumných problémů apod.) As for the portrayal itself, women are typically depicted as weak princesses that wait for a brave prince to rescue them, or as evil witches who want to kill someone or thwart anybody's plans. Princesses are always very beautiful with a gorgeous dress and they are also naive and unable to act or decide without a necessary help either of animals or miraculous objects. On the other hand, typical characters that men represent in fairy tales are courageous princes who are able to save anyone, usually the weak princesses, almost without any obstacles and, moreover, they get the princess as a reward. 3. Cíl práce The aim of this study is to point to this problem that the children have to face every day as well as to analyse the issue concerning the occurrence and potential change of gender stereotypes in fairy tales written in different periods of time. 4. Pracovní postup (přístup k řešení, metody, techniky, nástroje apod.) This diploma thesis will consist of two parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part will focus on the explanation of the term gender stereotypes and it will provide with more information about this issue. The practical part of the thesis will concentrate on the portrayal of the individual characters that usually play the most important parts. It will focus on the fairy tales mentioned above and their various types of variations, from the beginning of the 19th century interpretation to the modern one. 5. Předpokládané využití výsledků (způsoby prezentace, publikace apod.) The findings of the diploma thesis will provide an overview of the typical features of gender stereotypes connected with the main characters of fairy tales written from the nineteenth century to the present day. The results of this work will also compare the differences between the characteristic attributes of stereotyped depictions of each character in the certain period. 6. Seznam literatury a odkazů (citované a výchozí informační zdroje) ANDERSON, Graham. Fairytale in the Ancient World. London and New York: Routledge, 2003. Ebrary Academic Complete. Web. GODDARD, Angela. Language and Gender. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print. HUNT, Peter. An Introduction to Children's Literature. Oxford: OUP, 1994. Print. MILLS, Sara. Language and gender: interdisciplinary perspectives. London: Longman, c1995, xii, 282 s. ISBN 0582226317. TATAR, Maria. Off with Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1993. Print. ZIPES, Jack. Don't bet on the prince: contemporary feminist fairy tales in North America and England. New York: Methuen, 1987. Print. ZIPES, Jack. Fairy Tale as Myth/myth as Fairy Tale. Kentucky: University, 1994. Print.