"Stores have been accused of pandering to stereotypes by making girls' products almost exclusively in pink," reported the paper, which wrung out the maximum column inches from this shock revelation in a bid to fill a difficult post-holiday edition.
The pink plague is widening the gap between the sexes by pushing girls to conform to traditional roles, we learn. Many are becoming "hooked" on pink and "being duped into buying products that encourage them to grow up too quickly, such as lip glosses and Playboy pencil cases". "I'm worried about the 'pink plague'," Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood, told the paper. "You can't find girls past the age of three who aren't obsessed with the colour. It's just so insidious and it shows how commercial forces can get under their skin even at that age. You can't seem to get anything that's not pink for girls, whether it's clothes, books or toys."
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