Dad reacts to his son's Princess Elsa costume

Three-year-old Caiden poses in his Halloween costume. Photo / Facebook

When three-year-old Caiden Henson told his dad he wanted to dress up as Princess Elsa from Frozen for Halloween, Paul Henson didn't hesitate to help out his little boy.

And he posted this image of Caiden, dressed in his costume of choice to Facebook, which has been shared over 27,000 times.

Three-year-old Caiden poses in his Halloween costume. Photo / Facebook

Along with the shot, the Virginia, US resident added an impassioned message about traditional gender ideals:

"Keep your masculine bulls--t and slutty kids costumes, Halloween is about children pretending to be their favourite characters. Just so happens, this week his is a princess,".

The post has been widely praised with Facebook comments such as: "Paul I'm so proud of you for being a parent and standing by your child no matter what! Stereotypes have no place in a child's life!"

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Henson pointed to gender stereotyping.

"Why shame him for wanting to be a princess?" Henson said. "When little girls want to be superheroes, it's cute. Why isn't it the same for a little boy that wants to be a princess?"

- nzherald.co.nz