My own experiment - little girls don't chose. Pink

DD wore DS's hand-me-downs and played with all of his old toys, from Thomas and Bob to the original Tellytubbies. She still loves pink and glitter and sparkles. I'm not a girly girl, as in I wear minimal make up, I cut my nails with a metal clipper, I don't wear heels or dresses etc - there is no way DD has got her love of glitter and sparkles and pink from me is what I mean. Sometimes it just happens. Just like when DS was 3 and he made a peow peow out of a stick at nursery. Not got a clue where that came from.

Children will be children. Just let them play.

My girls have both had phases of rejecting pink, one more vigorously than the other (she rejected all "girls" things including clothes) it was and is a reaction to a simple observation that the pink / blue division has a load of stuff connected to it past colour (passive vs active, my little pony vs superhero, no space in the playground vs space etc) and it was that they were reacting against. The pink is just a symbol.

I'm not surprised you had girls rejecting pink. I am surprised you had boys choosing it though. What sort of age group?

Agree with others that "pink is crap" is just as damaging a message as "these pink things are for girls".

Children are not the problem. It's the parents and the people selling and promoting the products.

I agree that pink comes with rules including glitter.

My Dd loves yellow followed by red and blue. I d buy my Dd pink things but I make sure she has plenty of other colours. My dd's cousin is made to wear only pink and cream. Everything looks like she has just fallen out of candy floss machine. Thank goodness we don't see them often.

Pink is a fascinating concept.

In the adult world it's linked to femaleness, vanity, caregiving and softness.

No bank ever uses pink in it's logo.
Nothing of "real" importance uses pink, you don't see it in the house of commons etc.

Yet girls are persuaded to choose pink, pink lego, pink fairy toys, pink clothes and bedroom sets, with a plethora of associated meaning.

I agree there is nothing "innate" about a girl liking pink. It's the inflexible gendered world we live in that says so.

My son who is two bloody loves pink. I'm not going to cramp his style.

I love pink but then so does my son! I think its sort of counterproductive to be anti pink for girls tho because it adds to the stigma of traditional girls things being stupid or frivolous. Pink is just as good of a colour as blue. In my experience i find that its boys who are more afraid to chose pink clothing or toys as they get older rather than girls being afraid to branch out and try more trad masculine colours.
I think its a shame that because pink has come to symbolise femininity that its also come to symbolise frivolity and vanity etc its really about what people think of femininity and of women in general.

What age group Secret? In my three yearoild's nursery group you'd have run out of pink ones, but I think that age is particularly susceptible (I'm hoping we're at peak pink).

It's not just a colour though, pink comes with a set of rules and society wants little girls to like the rules pink.

Society teaches them to like pink and we are living in an era where it's hard to step outside societies expectations for our sex and still call ourselves girls and women.

Accept the rules, accept pink.