Can ‘sie’ be used to refer to ‘Mädchen’? [duplicate]

Question

This question also has an answer here (in German):
Spricht man über ein Mädchen/eine Frau mittels „sie“ oder „es“?

I’ve come across this text:

Ein Mädchen sitzt am Fenster. Sie hat lange Haare.

Shouldn’t it be es instead?

Answer 1

The grammatically correct personal pronoun is "es", because "Mädchen" as it is a neuter substanctive. Words with -lein or -chen are diminutive forms of words and always neuter.

Other examples:

Das Bürschlein ist sehr flink. Es klettert im Nu auf einen Baum.

Das Mütterchen wohnt im alten Haus. Ich gehe es morgen besuchen.

However, it is common to use the biological gender of the person (er/sie), in colloquial speech or in longer texts (without the danger of misunderstandings).

This might be compared to the use of pronounce "he/she" for beloved pets instead of the pronoun "it".

Answer 2

Yes, it should be es. But we don't know the context. It would be inappropiate if Mädchen had been used merily as an affectionate form for woman and the next sentence would be something like this:

Ein Mädchen saß am Fenster. Sie hatte lange Haare. Ich fühlte mich sofort zu ihr hingezogen.

That one is okay, because it is clear it isn't really a Mädchen but a young Frau.

The following would let people think of Nabokov's Lolita.

Ein Mädchen saß am Fenster. Es hatte lange Haare. Ich fühlte mich sofort zu ihm hingezogen.