see my ds3 has always loved pink and sparkly and fairies etc and until VERY recently would wear it out the house, even on non uniform days and no-one has specifically said anything to him, his school are very good at dealing with stuff like that and the kids all dress up and his teacher has said many of the boys dress up in the 'girly' princess dresses etc, they are JUST playing, as they shoudl be! but he HAS picked up on the marketing and the stereotypes and he 'feels' like he shouldnt do it, he still DOES play with it all at hoem and his friends join him in doing so when they come round, but he wouldnt wear stuff when out etc. he doesnt see it as inferior i dont think? more that its not what boys are meant to do, he thinks he is meant to like football (he doesnt!) and he is noticing that when girls have bday parties they only invite girls now, these are the same girls that come round for playdates etc and who he is good friends with and always went to their parties before, but now they only invite girls :( he for his bday (next month) wants to go see the new tinkerbell film and is inviting some girls and a boy to go see it. so i dont think he sees 'girly' things as silly and unimportant but he IS learnign that SOME people think its NOT ok for him to play with them and that makes me :(
my dp does stuff around the house and is very hands on with the kids and the housework and i expect my boys to be as well! i am NOT raising my boys to be men that exepct everything to be done for them! the rule in my house is we all make the mess so we ALL help clean it up. my eldest is a bloody good cook as wel and he enjoys it and chooses to do it on his own :)
but yes we do treat the sexes differently, i am making a point of telling my dd how big and strong she is, how clever she is etc, as well as how cute she is (she is blood adorable!) but yes i do have fun buying her nice clothes, after four boys its a novelty, equally tho everything that she wears is hard wearing and comfortable and i dont give a dam if she gets if dirty so she splashes in puddles and crawls int he mud, even in her boden dress! but it washes out, i am not going to stop her having fun for fear of ruining her clothes.
at the weekend my friend brought round some dolls clothes (in a hideous pink baby annabel wardrobe) ds2 (10) and ds3 (7) spent HOURS playing with dolls and dressing them and undressing them and organising all the clothes, we have always had dolls and a pushchair but not laods of clothes and accessories. dd sat and played with some toy dinosaurs which are her new favourite thing, she made them eat the my little ponies that were also brought round with the dolls clothes.
we have never done the girls/boys toys, they have just had a variety and if thye have mentioned thats for girls/boys they are always pulled up on it and i say NO, it seems to have sunk in wiht my elder three but ds4 is 4 and in reception and is very big on the pink for girls, i frequently tell him NO its not just for girls and he wore a pink elmo t-shirt today actually and didnt say anything about that, but he very def has the idea that pink is for girls and its not from me or his siblings, esp not from his pink silk dress wearing big brother!
there is NO need to market toys specifically to girls/boys they shoudl just be marketed to CHILDREN! its insideous and it does nad is affecting our children, even when we think it doesnt or it doesnt matter that much. and yes it is getting worse, i have def noticed the difference, 5 children eldest 13, youngest almost 2 and its far far worse now that it was when ds1 was a baby.