I think "gender issues" is taking it a bit far. Although I agree it shouldnt matter that someone might want to look girlie, feminine, or that a women might want to look masculine? I think bringing arguments of gender issues into the equation over baby headbands is taking it a bit far.
The point is being missed. So you have a super sharp butch female friend who wears a well cut suit... so she dresses up in a well cut suit. There you go, she dresses up. Same thing in essence - she dresses up in nice cloths.
If someone wants to put their baby girl in neutral, or even boys clothes, then it's up to them. If some one wants to put a headband on their girl to dress them up then it's up to them too.
No one goes round saying to other women, why are you wearing that hat, is it because you have a potatoe head and a spotty face (as someone wrote on this thread).... wouldn't be tolerated. That was my point, too many nasty comments, thats all.
I understand that babies were all dressed in nuetral white frocks years ago, that has good and bad issues too which i wont get into, we have kinda moved on from those years in many respects too.
I let my son play with a push chair if he wants, i let my daughter play football if she likes. I also like to dress my son in trendy boys clothes and my daughter in lovely girly things, by the same token if my son wanted to wear a pink tutu then he could and my daughter also wears denim jeans (without flowers or pink!).
I certainly would start saying nasty things about a mother who chose to have some subtle and cute accessories on her baby girl that were tasteful, like i said, i agree some aren't, but many are really cute, not chavy, and are promoted by leading fashion mags too.