How times have changed. When I was a little girl, I was teased because I was horrible at sports, but I was expected to play with the other girls and boys. I would have loved to have been able to say "I can't play because my dress might get dirty."
When I was growing up, it was considered natural for little girls to be rough and athletic. They weren't expected to "settle down and be more feminine" until just before puberty, when they started to develop boobs, and so forth.
In fact, up until around the age of 9 or 10, girls were often stronger and tougher than boys and sometimes even physically bullied the boys. This didn't change until puberty hit and the boys did become stronger.
In the world today, this year York had a program for International Woman's Week. I expected to see things like workshops for women entrepeneurs, courses on finance for widows and divorcees, discussions about pay discrepancies between men and women, information about breast cancer and cervical cancer, etc.
They had one discussion on Equal Rights legislation, and the rest was all yoga and crafts workshops. Because all that matters is that I have a tight ass and know how to sew.
ETA: I think this applies to boys, too. Boys should be able to be creative and dress up as well. I had a problem with the gym thing because it excluded boys, as well as girls, from things that they might like to do. A boy should be able to polish his nails if he wants to.
I used to do drama in high school, and the boys (some of whom were tough, football player types) used to love it when they had the opportunity to wear stage makeup.
Teaching a boy to repress his creative side is just as bad as teaching a girl that she is weak and powerless.
DH has an art degree, BTW.