Pink is the new blue in the war for gender neutrality. It's OK for Batman to push a pram and for Barbie to pack a pistol. Or is it?
Some days six-year-old Mbali Khamanga is Batman, other days she's Superman and occasionally she wants to be Tinkerbell.
Mom Nomusa Khamanga indulges her daughter's whims not because she has no control over her child.
She is among a growing number of South African parents who are ditching strict gender guidelines to allow their children the freedom to play with dolls and cars and dress in boys' and girls' clothes if they choose to.
Gender-neutral parenting is raising eyebrows among puritans stuck on the notion that blue is for boys and pink for girls.
South Africa's Hollywood export Charlize Theron was recently lambasted and lauded at the same time on Twitter for allowing her son to dress as Elsa from Frozen, complete with the blonde wig and dress.
One angry user posted: "@CharlizeAfrica this is a lil black boy, not a lil white girl with blonde hair. You need your a** kicked for this."
But some have given Theron their blessing, with one supporter posting: "Charlize Theron's son wanted to get dressed up as Elsa. Great parenting. Your kid can do what they like, it's not gonna 'make them gay'."
Parenting and gender experts say there's nothing wrong with giving children choices when it comes to their toys and clothes.
Parenting expert Nikki Bush said: "Toys allow children to engage with different parts of themselves - the masculine, the feminine, the nurturer, the warrior, builder, saviour, problem-solver, leader, follower, the creator, the artist, the scientist.
"A boy may be predisposed to playing with dolls for a while if he is accessing the feminine or the nurturer within, and likewise a girl may be going through a tomboy phase where she plays mostly with boys and what have traditionally been seen as boy toys such as guns, swords and construction toys.
She likes pockets and collects rocks ... The pockets on clothing in the boys' sections tend to be deeper and more functional
"The play patterns and toys they engage with as children are important in helping them to discover their own wiring and predispositions. To 'work themselves out', so to speak."
When parents controlled their children's "play patterns and interests, or insist children dress as fairies when they want to wear shorts and a T-shirt, it can lead to internal confusion for the child", Bush said.
"There is the potential for unfulfilled adults who are missing a part of themselves, or carry feelings of guilt or not being good enough because they don't conform to their parents' ideal picture of a perfect child."
Khamanga, who grew up in a gender-neutral home, said it came naturally with Mbali and her sister Lihle, 3.
"I allow my kids to choose their own clothes and toys ... They are more comfortable in T-shirts and pants. They love cars and balls but they also love tutus and dolls.
"Giving them these choices enables and equips them to want to be anything they want in the future."
While some kids teased her girls, their close friends understood them, she said.
"Lihle's granny was teasing her because she was wearing a boy's shirt." Lihle replied: "I'm not a boy, I'm a child."
Teaching student Siphiliselwe Makhanya is replicating her own gender-neutral upbringing with her two-year-old daughter, Ntsika.
"[She] is still too young to make her own clothing choices. So her father and I make them for her based on the things she is interested in.
"She likes pockets and collects rocks and an assortment of the weird things toddlers seem to like. The pockets on clothing in the boys' sections tend to be deeper and more functional than those on clothing in the girls' section," Makhanya said.
She has no qualms about dressing her daughter in utility pants and jackets and buys her automotive sets and teaches her about construction vehicles.
Ntsika's favourite toys are her car set and a doll.
"I think gender-neutral parenting promotes a growth mind-set - it will equip her to be a critical thinker, a pragmatist and someone who knows to care for herself more than she cares about the sensibilities of strangers," said Makhanya.
Steph Szecsei is all for gender-neutral parenting with her two sons, Noah, 3, and Bastian, 1.
"I definitely try my hardest to encourage neutrality, but Noah is such a little boy naturally. Bastian loves pushing the pram around and occasionally cuddles his baby doll.
When Noah plays with his friend Georgina, she loves playing with cars."
Melissa Steyn, director of the Centre for Diversity Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, said: "The effect on a child will depend on the norms within the social setting in which the child is brought up.
A highly prejudiced environment will affect a child who is not performing a conventional, binaried gender identity, whereas a more open environment will be affirming of such a choice. So much will depend on the adults in the child's life - parents and teachers, particularly."..