some boys like superheroes. some boys like princesses.

Yesterday I stumbled across this article written for diestandard.at on March 26th (It's in German, sorry English speaking friends. I'll explain everything, don't worry. More links at the end of the post) and I pretty much went up the roof.

In January Michael Morones, an 11-year-old from North Carolina, attempted suicide after being constantly teased at school for having a passion for the tv show My Little Pony.
Only about two months later, also in North Carolina, a 9-year-old gets bullied at school for his My Little Pony backpack and lunchbox. The school took consequences by telling the boy to stop bringing My Little Pony merch to school.
It's the same US state where a boy tried to kill himself, because of bullying and then they do this? I don't get it. Like the mother of the 9-year-old says "Saying a lunchbox is a trigger for bullying, is like saying a short skirt is a trigger for rape. It's flawed logic, it doesn't make any sense."

I agree. Indeed, it's possible that the bullying stopped after the boy no longer brought his beloved My Little Pony lunchbox to school, but this doesn't solve the actual problem.
The boy hasn't done anything wrong and still it's him who has to bear the consequences. Because it was him who brought the lunchbox to school, that's why it's his fault to get bullied?
Is this really the 21st century we live in?
It's the bully you have to teach that there's nothing wrong about a My Little Pony lunchbox.
What the school did, is basically telling the bullies that they did the right thing. They stopped the boy from bringing his stuff, so it seems like they agree with the bullies that My Little Pony is not for boys.
When will people stop putting kids into gender specific boxes right from birth?

There are moments when I get very upset. For example, when I see mothers putting a flower hair band on their new born baby girl. First of all, I can't imagine that it is in any way comfortable for a baby to wear a head band (even I think they're annoying, and I'm 22...) and in all honesty, it looks ridiculous to put a massive flower on an almost bold baby head.
These are already two reasons why I think people shouldn't do this without even talking about gender boxes, which is actually even worse than everything above.
The doctors said it is a girl, so let's cover that poor little thing in flowers and pink.

I believe, that as long as kids can't talk and express their opinion in a certain way, we shouldn't push and force them in a certain direction. Simply provide them with all different kind of toys. No matter what gender, give them dolls, give them cars, sooner or later they'll show you which one of them they prefer.
On Tumblr there was a post once, about a mother whose son wanted to wear a disney princess dress to his friend's birthday party. So she let him. A lot of the other kids' parents where shocked and couldn't understand how she could possibly let her son do something like that.
How the kids reacted? Well, they didn't care and some even complimented him on his pretty dress.
That's how it should be. I mean, the way the kids reacted. Not the parents.

Kids usually don't have prejudices against other people. It's what the parents teach them. Kids copy what grown-ups do and say. They copy their opinions, because they're not yet capable to fully understand the complexity of things. They rely on what their parents say.
Since a lot of adults still think in boxes and are full of prejudices, it's even more important to properly educate kids at school and teach them that it is okay to be whoever you want to be.
Who gets hurt when a boy wants to play with dolls and loves My Little Pony?

There's one more story I want to tell you. One day at work, a mother went shopping with her little son. He spotted some dolls and he begged his mother to buy one for him. It was lovely to watch. First the mother laughed, but she picked up the different dolls and asked which one he would like. And then she looked up to me and said something like "Why not? It's probably a good idea...". It made my day.
Sadly, she left the grocery store without a doll, because the boy also wanted something else (can't remember what it was) and the mother told him to choose only one. But I really hope, that this boy got a doll eventually.


Here are some articles for further reading:
Michael Morones, 11-year-old boy and My Little Pony fan, attempts suicide
a more detailed story about Michael
more about Michael Morones and what his family is doing to raise awareness
9-year-old who gets bullied because of his lunchbox
I couldn't find the Tumblr post I was talking about, but here's a similar story 
about gender marketing (German article!)
Little Riley on marketing. Listen to this girl.