Thank you, Val.
I very strongly believe that children should be given the opportunity to find role models etc from both genders, toys that are gender neutral and experiences that can break stereotypes HOWEVER I get really mad about the whole "my girl can't play with anything that is pink etc" because, in my opinion at least what you are saying is that to be strong, smart and capable you need to not be a traditional girl, you need to be more like a boy - that sends a powerful message to little girls that their is something inherently wrong with them.
While I don't think I believe that girls inherently like pink more (that would be weird--why?), I agree with much of this. It's very messy, because girly stuff is highly valued by culture and pushed by marketers, etc. So there is a tendency for many of us to want to reject it all. However, it's more complicated--we don't want to OVERvalue "boyish" things because "girly" things are associated with the "lesser" sex. This tendency can be clearly seen when we consider how society treats "tomboy" girls vs. "sissy" boys...
