Girls pick up on this as well. I avoided anything that could remotely be seen as feminine because I had equated femininity with inferiority. Femininity was frivolous and I wanted to be a hard-edged career woman. I was in my late 20s when it kind of hit me that I had been taught to loath part of my identity, my gender, a huge f*****g part of who I am even though I was (and still am) a strong feminist. But my younger form of feminism was adapting masculine qualities because I wanted to be a powerful woman while avoiding pink like a color matters in the slightest. Now I accept that femininity and masculinity are b******t, people are complex and have both traits and both traits have value. Compassion and leadership are both important and they are not exclusive on one or another gender.

My son has a pink doll call baby, that HAS to go to bed with him. Sometimes a toy dinosaur joins the bed time cuddles. When asked what he wanted on his birthday cake (he is 4 in a couple of weeks) he said, Hulk, a dragon and a butterfly. I think that sums him up pretty well. I cannot understand people who are so insecure as to not allow their children to simply play.

My son was running around with a toy pram and a baby in it. He and hia sister were playing "parents". He came home upset because the nieghbour told him dolls are for girls. Is he not supposed to learn how to be a dad? He also likes female hereos. He was teased at school because on pjama day he wore my little pony. I was so angry they didn't use this as a teaching moment for the kids ar school.

I definitely feel his pain on this. I connected early with video games that had female protagonists. Specifically an old Sierra title called "Laura BoW and the Dagger of Amon Ra". One of those adventure games about a murder mystery, but you play as a nosy news reporter who is also a woman. Kind of a Murder she wrote vibe I guess. I still love video games with female protagonists. Much more recently, "Life is Strange", blew my mind. That game made me cry way too much. So YAY for female protagonists. Can we please have more of that?

I love that young men are finally waking up to this. As a child (I’m 58 and female), male preference, ego, and gendered jobs pissed me off. In the ‘60s, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, always followed by “a teacher or a secretary?” Their limiting me like that made me mad, so 6 year old me would answer “a firemen”! Should’ve seen their faces. In the ‘70s, in high school , I hated seeing when my whipsmart female friends immediately dumb themselves down when they started dating, just so their intellectually inferior boyfriends could feel smart. And “boys will be boys” always infuriated me. I expect better from my men. Now that I’m older, I call out misogynists, racists, homophobes, etc, in public, in a heartbeat, and just love to see them run away with their tails between their legs. I’m hopeful that this new generation of men will be the catalysts of change—-for the better!

Matilda is a freaking badass!!! Like so many of Roald Dahls characters, she is smart, confident and totally herself. My youngest son totally enjoys rainbows, unicorns, Disney Princesses, cars, animals, trampolines, singing and pestering his big brother. And, well, with the exception of the latter, he's encouraged to enjoy all of them. And still as a mom I have to take in consideration the world around him not freaking out about it and making him the victim of their narrow minds. Don't get me wrong, not by discouraging his behavior, but by actively reminding people that all that is for boys too. Before they even consider commenting about it.

Randomly Downvoting Monster: I'm coming after you with upvotes!!! Muahaha. RUN.

I absolutely agree. The good news is that I think this is starting to shift. I'm a mom of 3 young kids, 2 boys and a girl. Most of the other parents I come across don't push the idea of certain toys or colors being just for girls. And I can't imagine a teacher steering a boy away from a female character now. Also my boys really enjoyed the book Matilda.

I always hated the gender stereotypes. If a girl threw something at a boy, she would be told off. If a boy threw something at a girl, she would be told ‘it’s because he likes you’. Like, no; he’s hurting me and you can’t keep using that dumb excuse.

My MIL taught her sons to respect women. She never objectified toys or made certain things taboo. She wanted them to grow up with open minds. In my family, my father never wanted his daughters to be at the mercy of a man. He wanted them to be able to be as independent as possible. So when it came time to raise my son, my husband and I decided to approach it with open minds. As a result..@ 27 years old, my autistic son is polite, helpful..and one of the biggest Bronies you'll ever meet (Bronies are boys that like My Little Pony!!)

Things are changing. I work in a place where there's a lot of interaction with children, and see a lot less of this than I used to. J As an example, just recently a little boy was upset because we didn't have any pink golf balls, and pink is his fav colour. I showed him the red or the purple as that was the closest we had, and he picked purple as it was his second fav colour. I was waiting for his dad to react in some way about pink being his favourite colour, and all I saw was him smiling at his son...that's progress. Usually a comment like that would be met with embarrassment and trying to sway the little boy to a more "manly" colour. It's just a small anecdote, but it's a step in the right direction.

I agree 100% with this

This is so interesting, how current is this for me right now. Because it's not even while ago I was thinking about it. Just a week ago I was in a store and while in a toys isle there was a woman with like a 4 year old boy. She told him that he can choose what he wants, but than when he picked something, she said that SHE didn't like the toy ( which I found absulute nonsense, such a statement) and then whe he wanted stuffed animal with hair bow the mom said that "it's too girly". Man, I was so angered on the inside, like how can you defy the geder of your 4-year-old child like that, it was just a freaking stuffed toy... And I mean, as for the while I was there the mom was still deciding the "chosen" toy for the kid. At this point how is this shaping 4 year old child, when then I can see boys under 10 cat calling me even though I'm way older than them. It's just a full circkle and at this point it's fault of both parents.

I have 3 brothers and grew up liking things my bros liked . Like when a cool and expensive car passes I’m in awe my friends seem weirdid out about it. I have a tomboyish style too most of my clothes are hammy downs from my older bros. Having 3 brothers doesn’t mean I didn’t like “girly” stuff my bros loved playing with my dolls only last year did they come out with an boy America girl doll. There shouldn’t be a gender on what toys kids can play with!

He has hit the nail on the head.

Get your kids to read the Robert Heinlein or the Terry Pratchett juveniles. Great stories, great female characters.

I once walked into a video game store with 2 hostel mates of mine. I intended to buy a game called 'Bayonetta', a pretty amazing game with a cool as heck female protagonist. I found it and as I immediately picked it up, one of my mates looked down at me and asked in Hindi if 'I still had my d**k on me'. This is the problem. No matter what form of media it is, male protagonists and heroes are always considered normal role models. I don't care. I don't get impressed with fictional characters because of their gender. If there is a badass heroine who kills demons and monsters, I will proudly call myself a fan.

A boy at the after school daycare where i work loves the colour pink more then anything. Also when i'm painting faces he wants to be a prinses, i gladly make one of him. Adults need to step over 'how it should be' and take some lessons from our children.

When my son was a toddler, he used to stand on a stool beside me in the kitchen, doing the dishes, cleaning fish, or cutting vegetables. Whenever my mother in law saw this, she would immediately suggest the two of them go for a walk and informing me that I was going to turn him into a homosexual. "Nope", was my response, "I am going to make him into a real man, a real human being, who knows how to do things that need to get done, not a stunted man like his grandpa." She is now a lot older, with beginning dementia, and often enjoys eating a delicious meal her grandson has cooked.

I'm a Pre-K teacher and it saddens me when a classmate tells a boy he shouldn't use pink because it's a girl color. I set them straight - t's just a color! Children need to be free to explore and engage in a variety of activities - gender should not be an obstacle.