We would do every child a favour if we treated them as such – just a child, neither a boy nor a girl – and ditched the gendered language and stereotypes. They are all different and like different things; let’s not judge and leave them to decide.

Colleges across Scotland will now be able to bid for two funding awards to run pilot projects that support men in childcare. “This is a fantastic opportunity for colleges to test out new ways of getting men into the early learning and childcare workforce, supporting our work to diversify the sector and recruit more people than ever to deliver quality early learning. Increasing the number of men in childcare means children will benefit from different perspectives and have more male role models to look up to," said Maree Todd, Minister for Childcare and Early Years.

Four-in-10 adults say boys and girls should be able to wear trousers or skirts to school, according to a survey. Just 9 per cent of those asked backed a "traditional" school uniform policy of boys in trousers and girls in skirts, and only 7 per cent said that boys and girls should only be allowed to wear trousers, with no one wearing skirts. Among school pupils aged between 6 to 15, girls were even more in favour of a shift towards gender neutral uniforms, with 47 per cent backing the move, compared to 37 per cent of boys.

“As adults, we should all be ashamed that we have allowed a situation to develop in society where girls disconnect from sport at a young age," Ruth Holdaway, chief executive of Women in Sport, said. "Girls are missing out: missing out on the physical health and emotional well being benefits of being active – and missing out on the life skills that sport helps to develop.”

It’s not only fairy tales in children’s literature that perpetuate the gender stereotypes. The majority of stories for children contain a central male character. Once you start looking at your bookshelves with this in mind it’s quite an eye-opener. The Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, Winnie the Pooh (the only female character is Kanga in her apron) and the list goes on.