As the grandmother of two small boys, I am always very fed up when I try to buy them clothes and find nothing but a couple of rails, mainly navy or brown, while there is a plethora of girls' clothes in a myriad of lovely colours. No wonder little boys can be drawn to the sparkly pink stuff, they are bored!
I am also not sure of the thinking that girls will need all this because they are little princesses, whereas the boys are too busy climbing trees in their sludge coloured clothes.
Dressing up as a princess or a fire fighter is a natural part of a child's development, regardless of gender. Buying any child 100 dresses and high heels is something else entirely. As for the ban, I suspect we do not have the full story here from either side. But it sells newspapers,especially sensationalist ones