\n<\/p>\n
Gimel Hooper, 49, who is Black, didn\u2019t want to show \u201cFrozen\u201d to his daughter for similar reasons. But after she received an Elsa doll for her 4th birthday from a friend\u2019s mother, it became his daughter\u2019s favorite toy. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t turn left or right without seeing \u2018Frozen\u2019 something,\u201d said Mr. Hooper, whose daughter is now 10. \u201cThat song was constantly playing,\u201d he added of \u201cLet It Go.\u201d \u201cEvery kid knew it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Elsa sings in the dress, she appears to gain a sense of invincibility, and some parents described Elsa costumes as having a similar effect on their children.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hemmig said that, at the peak of Jace\u2019s \u201cFrozen\u201d obsession, he wore his Elsa dress to Target several times. Jace\u2019s mother, Jean Hemmig, 45, said they let him wear the dress in public because \u201cknowing we were confident in him\u201d would help Jace feel even more confident.<\/p>\n
Britta Shine bought a dress for her then-4-year-old foster daughter, who had experienced abuse and neglect, as a way for her to process the intense emotions she sometimes felt. It quickly became her favorite thing to wear. Ms. Shine, who lives in Detroit and has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and infant mental health, said her foster daughter, now 6, stands up straighter when she\u2019s wearing the dress. \u201cShe feels empowered by it,\u201d Ms. Shine, 42, added.<\/p>\n
Meghan and Kevin Dexter, 42 and 43, said that their son liked to put on an Elsa costume as a toddler and play with friends and family in their backyard in Richmond, Va. He never wanted to wear it elsewhere, but his parents would have let him. \u201cIf we had to modify every behavior that might get made fun of,\u201d Ms. Dexter said, \u201cwe would be dictating way too much about our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tammy Hart\u2019s 5-year-old, Rocco, also started dressing up as Elsa as a toddler. Ms. Hart, 43, didn\u2019t mind at all \u2014 until Rocco asked about wearing the dress to school in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n