Stereotypes

Yesterday, while coloring, C mentioned that he was going to draw something pink. Pink is one of his three favorite colors (along with blue and green) and often shows up in his arts & crafts projects. Then he sighed, and said, "Mom. The other day in school, Millie laughed at me when I was riding the pink bike."
"She did?" I asked. "Why?"
"Because the pink bike is for girls, I guess." C said.
"How did that make you feel?" I asked.
"Sad," he said, with another deep sigh. "But I can ride the pink bike, right? Pink's not ALL for girls! Boys can like pink too, right Mom?"
"Of course you can!" I said. "It's fine that you like pink, and you can ride the pink bike if you want to."
"But, I forgot to laugh at her when she rode the blue boy bike today." C said. I pointed out that if he felt bad when Millie laughed at him, Millie would probably feel bad if he laughed at her, and he agreed.

It makes me sad that C is being pressured to conform to these gender stereotypes already. I've worked very hard to encourage all his interests, and even though he's always gravitated toward the more typical boyish toys (trains, cars, etc), he also has a play kitchen, and enjoys the book Pinkalicious. He loves to dance and be silly.

He just turned 5. Can't he still like pink if he wants to?