princesses okay, pink not so much?

My son surprised me this morning.
Lately he has taken an interest (or rather, an obsession) with flyers, and saying 'i want, i want, i want'. This is not that surprising considering the time of year we are in, but he actually doesn't really understand that, so much as he understands consumer greed. *sigh* (insert mother guilt here) *sigh*

In any case, however disappointing that is, it wasn't as surprising as what he said while reading his favourite ripped out page of a Walmart flyer (that he told me he was taking to daycare for Show&Tell, despite the fact that they don't do Show&Tell at his daycare, and that his daycare would be more opposed to WalMart than I am, and I go in there maybe once a year, if that) in the back seat of the car driving back home after dropping Jake at work.

In any case, he is doing his usual 'i wants' while pointing at pictures on the flyers, mostly talking to himself, and I hear him say: "And I want that one. It has princesses and is pink. No, I don't want that one, I don't like pink. I want that [other] one, it is blue."

What? Since when does little J not like pink? We have bought him things specifically because he does like pink. I realize this may just be a 3-year old 'stage', and he can certainly change what colours he likes, but the way he said it, was like his innocence is now lost. I am gathering some other boy has told him that he is not to like pink, and I realize that little J will still like pink and it was just a momentary thing. I didn't expect him to love pink all his life, and I know he also enjoys blue (and also many other colours), and I appreciate that it wasn't the 'princesses' that he couldn't like, just pink, but still... my little guy is growing up and being influenced by others. (It isn't that I didn't expect that either, but still...)

[All this said, and for a few years - about 10 years ago - my Mom made fun of me for not ever liking pink. I don't ever recall it being as strong as that, but I also don't recall it ever being a favourite colour, and sure I refused to wear it for a few years.]

I just hate how much we gender the kids in our society, and the adults and teenagers too. I hate how colours symbolize or are attributed to particular genders and sexes. And in my heart, I know that big J and I still parent queerly, and little J is still our 'queerling', but I also know we can't totally and always protect him from the outside world that puts particular ideas in his head. *sigh*

I have to put this into perspective and 'get over it'.
I did try to ask little J why he thought he didn't like pink, or kind of where this came from, but he was so wrapped up in 'i wants', and i was still driving home through downtown that I never got an answer...