Dicky What a sweeping generalisation. My 4 year old grandson loves reading and dancing and was not that interested in the Saturday football sessions he went to. His sister, who will be 6 at the end of the year, is not that interested in stories but factual books engage her more. She prefers physical activities and was very engaged and energetic in the Saturday football session. However, she also very creative and enjoys improvising with household items and making things, whereas her brother prefers Lego. So, there are combinations of what some see as more "male" and more "female" interests in both the children. I suspect that, given a free hand, most children would be the same.
But if you keep portraying boys as superheroes and girls as fairies/princesses (and parents, as well as advertisers and the media in general often reinforce these stereotypes), children either identify with these notions, go along with them because they don't want to be different, or they rebel - and that requires a great deal of single-mindedness and determination as it can be socially isolating.
Let children decide for themselves what they enjoy doing and what they feel comfortable wearing. To imply that learning, science and discovery is something more characteristic of boys and that girls shouldn't be bothering their pretty little heads with anything more taxing than the latest fashions is, in my view, disgraceful.