I've had a reason to walk into baby shops - those places that sell prams, cots, breast pumps, and baby clothes.

The boy section has many very cute, very practical, outfits.

The girls section is a retina burn out zone of pink pink pink. There are even pink hipster pants so the nappies show. Sexualisation at 3 months old!

You don't find any pink in the boys section - nothing - not a single piece of pink to be found.

In NZ today, baby boys wear blue, baby girls wear pink.

Pink has only been associated with females since about the 1950s - any genetic or hormonal "girls like pink" claim is bollocks. It's a modern societal constraint.

In the 1900s pink was commonly considered a colour for boys, being a gentler version of the maculine bright red. Light blue was associated with virgin mary, female virgins and baby girls. It should be noted this wasn't nearly as ingrained as todays "pink for girls, and only for girls" culture.

It wasn't until the 1950s that the cololurs swapped. It's often attributed to the Nazi use of an inverted pink triangle to mark male homosexuals in concentration camps.. It was also considered a communits colour (e.g. pinko). Strong willed/masculine women were once called "Pink Ladies", in recognition of their not adhering to their gender roles.

The colours swapped, slowly, so by the 1960s pink had become a feminine colour.

Fast forward to today, and it's gone insane. It's so firmly ingrained in our culture we don't give a second thought to this bright labelling of girls in hot pink, and boys never ever daring to wear pink. (with the occasional exception of an enlightened parent or insistent child). The girls section in clothing or toys shops abound with pink pink pink pink pink!

Do we do this so we don't confuse boys and girls, and accidently treat a child in a way inappropiate for their gender?

Dress a baby in the wrong colour, and the child will be often assumed to be the opposite gender - correct the commenter and you'll be questioned: "but why are they wearing [pink|blue]?". It's a shock for some people to see a parent do something so awful as not label their child's gender for the world to see.

oh noes! If you dress a boy in pink they might turn out gay? how silly. everyone knows you can only suddenly become gay by drinking soymilk.

I have heard the claim "my daughter picked pink all on her own" - While it's possible they do indeed like pink, I'm confident there's more to their daughter's assertion - unless the parent believes their daughter has no contact with the world, no contact with other children, or adults other than their parents.

We're going backwards. We're re-enforcing "Girls do this", "Boys do that", right from day one.