As I child, I LOVED being a girl, and was celebrated for being a girl. On my father's side of the family, I was the first granddaughter, and since my grandparents had four sons, I was adored and doted upon.
I loved my dolls and cooking toys and books, but also enjoyed making mud pies, fishing, and climbing trees.
I have never felt restricted by being female, then again, I was never interested in playing football or joining the Army, things my brother did.
I'm sure there were things I COULDN'T do, and there were roles assigned to me because of my gender (for example, my chores were washing dishes, and my brother's were taking out the trash and mowing the lawn) but I NEVER felt limited.
I think gender roles will be much less strict in Western society as time moves on. My boys help me with dishes and cooking, we read books together with feminine heroes, and we freely express emotions. I'll be interested to see how that evolves into the tween & teen years. But yes, evolving into less strict roles is a good thing as we explore more what it means to be human, regardless of gender.