Beautiful young girl overcomes oppression — evil stepmother, black magic and the like — wins over handsome prince, lives happily ever after.

What little girl doesn't want to live a fantasy like that?

Little girls always have wanted to be princesses, living a fairy-tale life with the perfect man.

"Unfortunately, those Disney movies don't reflect real life at all," says mom Abbie Little of Mount Pleasant. "But it is fun make- believe for little girls. Playing princess is like a rite of passage."

Disney seems to have most of the market when it comes to princesses and princess merchandise. Little girls are hooked, whether it's on the current "Princess" line, which includes Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Mulan and Pocahontas, or the newest member of the royal family, Tiana, the first African-American princess who is at the center of

"The Princess and the Frog," coming out in December. Younger girls love the Barbie Princess DVDs, while older ones are into live-action shows such as this summer's Disney Channel Original Movie "Princess Protection Program."

Even local organizations have gotten in on the act. In March, the Charleston Ballet Theatre encouraged children to dress up for performances of "Cinderella" to get a chance to win a pair of ballet slippers worn by the ballet's title character.

This summer, several local groups offered princess-themed camps, including the Ballet Academy of Charleston, Dance Charleston, Mount Pleasant School of Performing Arts and Once Upon a Ballet.

The Charleston Museum has a princess program this weekend in which little girls are encouraged to come dressed as a princess to decorate a goblet and paper dolls and have a tea party.

"Fairy tales have always been intriguing to little girls," says museum education director Stephanie Thomas. "They love the fantasy of it, the idea of wearing a dress and crown and living in a castle."

Charleston Ballet (charlestonballet.org) also has planned a Princess Ball fundraiser for Oct. 18. The event is described as "a family-centric royal afternoon catered to the whims and desires of the highest and most regal of the court, as young ladies from ages 6-16, their families, friends and dates. The event will culminate with a debutante presentation of the young ladies to the 'royal court,' finishing with a coronation of the first annual King, Queen and Princess of the Ball."

"The thing about these princesses is that they seem so perfect," says Little. "They're beautiful and smart. They are nice. Everybody loves them. And, of course, they always seem to live happily ever after."

In March 2004, USA Today called this fascination "the princessing of America" and said it was fueled by "a well-timed confluence of demographics, little-girl desires, parental indulgence, savvy marketing and fascination with European royalty."

Mattel's Barbie, which already led a pretty charmed life filled with mansions and sports cars, joined the fray a couple of years ago with straight-to-DVD titles such as "Barbie in the Nutcracker," "Barbie as Rapunzel," "Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper" and "Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses."

"I finally put the brakes on pink in our house," says Tanya Seabright of North Charleston. "I told her she can have a favorite color, but that doesn't mean that everything in her life has to be that color, and she can like princesses and even play princess, but she is not now and likely will never be a princess."

Seabright says she thinks promoting the princess philosophy is a way to encourage materialism and frivolity in girls.

"I don't want to teach my daughter that being pretty is her goal," she says. "It just seems very superficial."

But Sherry Young, a counselor in Summerville, says play in moderation is harmless.

"Fantasy play is common in preschoolers," she says. "Little boys pretend they're superheroes, and little girls pretend they're princesses. The difference is that little boys generally stop playing superheroes by the time they are 7 or 8, but the princess thing can go into the teens for girls."

Young points out that princesses are represented as having many admirable traits such as compassion and trustworthiness that parents should stress to their daughters.

"And it's like everything else, as long as you are balancing it out, there's nothing wrong with fantasy play," she says. "Just make sure your kids get a good dose of reality, too. Variety of play is good. As a parent, you probably know you have to pick your battles. In the grand scheme, playing princess will probably turn out to be a battle not worth fighting."