"How toys have become alarmingly gender stereotyped since the Seventies... at the cost of little girls' self-esteem"

Women today may feel they have come a long way since the inequality of the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. But the shelves of many toy shops paint a very different story.

Where once toys may have been marketed in neutral colours to target both boys and girls, now they are much more likely to be gender stereotyped - blue for boys and pink for girls.

The issue has been highlighted by campaign group Let Toys Be Toys...

The Let Toys Be Toys petition...states: 'In 2013 it is time to take down the signs, labels and categories that tell parents, grandparents and children that construction sets, adventure games, cars, science toys and superheroes are 'toys for boys', and that baby dolls, play kitchens, make-up sets, fashion, princesses and crafts are 'toys for girls'.

'Toys are for fun, for learning, for stoking imagination and encouraging creativity. Children should feel free to play with the toys that most interest them.'

Read the full article here.