I have just reading this whole thread and a few things have jumped into my mind ... and they will be jumbled as I am typing as I think ....

Sun protection aside, why can't girls and boys just run around in bather bottoms? We did and we have stacks of nude pictures of us as kids playing on the beach. All we cared about was the beach. Pedophiles will find children attractive in paper bags. Back to the sun issue though - Thankfully there are the once piece swimsuits around for kids with high sun protection and my son does wear one - but once again the boys ones are BLACK!!!!! A great colour to wear in the sun!

I have a 2yo son whose favourite colour at the moment is pink and his favourite movie is Tinkerbell. We go shopping and he is allowed to choose his yoghurt and is torn between Tinkerbell and Nemo. He wears pink and apricot polo shirts (thank goodness for cotton on and colour) as well as blue, green etc, and has a couple of baby dolls and dress up clothes and necklaces. He is a sweet, sensitive boy who prefers to play with the girls or with other gentle boys. Don't get me wrong - he loves rough play with his Dad too, sleeps in a Thomas bed and is obsessed with his trains and cars. He also has a play kitchen in his room and guess what all of his boy friends play with when they come over... the kitchen and his necklaces. We were always conscious of not "boying" him and trying to get him a balance of "boy" and "girl" toys - but do you know what he said the other day when we were looking at a toy catalogue ... " not those mummy they are girl toys" ... bcos of that pink for girls and dark for boys. It is so hard to buy him toys that aren't spiderman, the HUlk or TMNT or Princesses and Dora. His favourite wiggles character is Dorothy Dinosaur but can I find him something that isn't blatantly "girly".

I have just had a daughter so I guess I am about to experience the flip side of the coin. She wears her brothers clothes and looks stunning in blue and green, and is often mistaken for a boy bcos she is blue or green.

There is one thing that peeves me to the core and that is the girlfriend / boyfriend tag when they are only 2! DS had a sleepover at one of his friends house when DH and I had a function to go to - his friend was a girl - and they slept in the same room. I was telling someone about his sleepover and one comment was " gosh you better be careful he's starting early". WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is 2 FFS.

I guess what I am trying to say is that as parents WE can sexualise and gender stereotype our children before society even gets to them. How many little girls will get a toy vacuum for xmas and the boys a toy tool bench from their parents? We dress them, we begin their education every time we buy a toy, book, video or piece of clothing.