I’ve also taught my boys that they are knights, and they have jobs too. Their job is to protect their sister and Mom, and to help others who need it.

It’s a work in progress, and we’re still working out the kinks, but so far, I have a girl covered in pink, because she did decide on that as her favorite color who is wrestling with boys. So, we got a bit of the middle ground.

For the most part children copy what they see and hear around them. They see the sterotypes that the adults around them set before them. Even in this day and age, women are the care givers and men are the bread winners. Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. From birth we lead our children to believe that this is the way the world works.

When we decided to have a baby we wanted a girl. We got a boy and now we are both thankful. In my opinion there is too much pressure on girls these days to look pretty, be thin, and wear sexy clothing. Sometimes I can not believe some of the clothing I see little girls wearing.

As parents it is our responsibility to raise our children to believe in themselves for who they are and not feel the need to have to change to meet anyone’s expectations.

While I don’t want to encourage the “a girl’s worth is in her appearance” meme, I also don’t want to shun things that are (in our society) viewed as feminine and aid in the continuation of our society viewing those things as less worthy because of their gender association. I’m glad girls can wear pants and play with cars without anyone thinking twice about it, I hope that someday boys can wear skirts/dresses and play with baby dolls without eyebrows being raised.

I have a son and we are mindful of gender stereotypes but perhaps not nearly as mindful as we would be if we had a girl. Sadly I think there is still more sexism and pressure to confirm to stereotypes for women then men in our society. Though I think there is a growing problem with male stereotypes and gender roles in our society too. This issue is one that gets me fired up because I have been challenging gender roles in one way or another all my life. There are definitely some very entrenched biases in our culture that I feel need to be changed for the good of everyone.

My son’s clothes have been pretty genderless since birth, we also steer clear of slogans and licensed characters. Most of what we are doing at this point is just limiting media in general so very little TV and his toys are all pretty neutral. I also am very lucky to have a wonderful husband who is an awesome role model. We both work and we both split the household chores like cooking, cleaning and laundry.

If I did have a girl I think we would be pretty close to what you have suggested. There wouldn’t be a complete ban on all things pink, girly or princess but I would definitely not be buying those things without deep consideration and would work in ways to discourage buying into the female gender roles plastered all over our society.

When it comes right down to it I don’t see taking some precautions to avoid or challenging gender stereotypes as indoctrinating my children to my beliefs but more as leveling the playing field so they can be freer to decide what they REALLY are interested in.

If I come off as brusk, well, that’s sort of a mindset I get into when I encounter gender stereotypes.

The pink-blue thing begins before birth with decorating the baby’s room. Then pink Onesies, and later seeing other girls wearing pink and playing with pink toys. Girls merely embrace the pink world that has been set before them.

I know I’m in the minority. I’m just here to say it’s possible for a parent to choose against pink and have it be okay. The only caveat is that you have to warn parents ahead of time with respect to birthday gifts.

We haven’t banned pink though. My daughter has a pink princess gown for dress-up play, but she also has a firefighter’s outfit and other non-girly things. But I won’t buy a toy that has been intentionally pinkified, such as a pink Etch-a-sketch.

The way I see it, the little girl tries to make a friend who will play games she likes with her. She goes out of her way to try to conform to what the little boy likes, but after succeeding where he fails, she realizes that listening to his ideas isn’t getting her anywhere, and that her ideas are just as good, even if they are different (or, in this case, “pink”).

When I was really little, I loved pink and purple … but I also loved Legos and Lincoln Logs. As I got older, I started to disdain things for being “girly.” Last year I realized that pink is a good color on me … and was uncomfortable with it, ’cause it’s “girly.” I understand the need to make sure that a child’s horizons are not needlessly narrowed, but what’s wrong with liking “girly” things? (Not including specifically “romantic” or “sexed” examples, like short skirts.)

My father didn’t want me to have a Barbie because she was materialistic, not because she was pink. I remember playing with my one Barbie doll: her head went on and off. I played with my friend’s Barbie playhouse, too: stick Barbie in the elevator, slam it up to the top and she’d come flying out!

Can we change that? No. But we do encourage that she try things on that aren’t pink, or that she play with toys that aren’t sparkly princess paraphenalia.

And as a result? She’ll happily play dinosaurs and cars as often as she plays baby dolls or wears fairy wings.

But the love of pink and sparkles? I certainly didn’t do a whit to encourage that. it just was. And is.

I think it’s important, no matter what your child’s preference, to teach your kids to embrace the idea that nothing is ever, ever out of reach based on the fact that you’re of a particular gender.

(We still have yet to see a Princess movie. And I think that goes a LONG way in preventing a princess obsession).