Girl colours

[Princess29]

Today while I was at work, I was on a break and I saw a girl who was about
3, doing some colouring in.
I didnt see what the picture was but I overheard her ask her mum to pass her some "girl colours".

[gillian1968]

Kids have this amazing capacity to say the simplest most profound things don't they?

I'm sure she was just drawing a girl so she needed girl colours, not that the colours themselves were "girl" but she was drawing a girl and the girl needed to be coloured appropriately. Kids are very literal...

That said, as an adult I have a different interpretation of girl colours and that's the colours we see that are socially accepted as female colours - pinks, purples, delicate blues... I love that I can feel a little femme just wearing a colour like that.

So I wonder what colours are interpreted by other cultures as female colours?

[Teri Jean]

If I would have to guess it would be pastels and bright colors. Kids say things as innocent and if you look at the colors of little girls clothes and toys it may give you an insight to where that comment came from. Keli

[Carly D.]

For me, my favorite colors as a male are red, black and gray.. my fem favorite colors are black, pink and purple with some gray in there.. favorite colors of pantyhose or tights is brown, then black.. favorite color shoes is white then black... no wait black then white.. favorite nail polish is anything that dries fast.. and lipstick is dark reddish brown... I know that isn't what this thread is about, but I'm making it about this... hmmm shoulda started my own color thread.. selfish asssss....

[putz0611]

I hate to interupt this point of view, But. As a girl growing up I often colored girls wearing blues and not the light blues, but the blues typically seen on boys. My daughters have colored girls wearing all different colors, including black. So please don't base color on one little girl, who probably doesn't know the great spectrum of color, and doesn't know that there is no such thing as girl or boy colors. Colors are personnal and do not reflect a persons gender.:2c:

[Juliet Simone]

My faves are purple, pink, silver, pink, gold and purple, apricot and pink. Oh, and pink and silver.
Ta Ta
Juliet

[linnea]

Aren't kids great: they say just the most wonderful things (which we adults probably over-analyze). Girl colors, in my way of thinking, are probably both colors that the little girl associates with girls and colors appropriate (not necessarily because of hue) for coloring a girl. I realize that these sound the same, but I don't think that they are the same.
Colors associated with girls vary considerably, of course. Often they are pink and purple (my daughter's favorites), pastels of various shades, light blue, and almost any combination of "wild" colors.

[Teri Jean]

Princess,
Earlier I said pastels as girl colors and I still think it is but my favorites are pastel blues, purples, bold red, pinks and black. Greens are appealing but have not found something I like in any shade. As a woman inside my choices a subtle to reflect my softer side. Whereas my male side is grays, dark blues, browns and darker greens. Oh well. LOL

Keli

[Ze xx]

I assume it's some sort of conditioning, but where my dd gets it from is beyond me. Both my SO and I wear a rainbow of colours. Our home is colourful too.

But Dd likes pink! She's a girl so she wears pink! These are her words.

Like I said, she hasn't got this idea from me or her dad but to her everything that is pink is good. Mind you, it's worked in some good ways as it includes eating pink food - salmon, beetroot, red cabbage :D

Many years ago red used to be the colour for boys as it was considered a stronger colour than blue, I don't know when the colours switched though.

And I find it amusing that when in guy mode my SO won't go near a pink shirt! Even if he's wearing pink knickers underneath :heehee:

[shesadvl]

I assume it's some sort of conditioning, but where my dd gets it from is beyond me. Both my SO and I wear a rainbow of colours. Our home is colourful too.

But Dd likes pink! She's a girl so she wears pink! These are her words.

Like I said, she hasn't got this idea from me or her dad but to her everything that is pink is good. Mind you, it's worked in some good ways as it includes eating pink food - salmon, beetroot, red cabbage :D

Many years ago red used to be the colour for boys as it was considered a stronger colour than blue, I don't know when the colours switched though.

And I find it amusing that when in guy mode my SO won't go near a pink shirt! Even if he's wearing pink knickers underneath :heehee:

laffing... now aint that so funnie... that some guyz wont go near Pink.... in guy mode but if theyre CD'ers they lerve pink...laffing which makes me wonder this pink fog...hahahaha.. sorry im wicked... if yer see pink theyre all over it.....:tongueout
most guys I know dont mind wearing PINK they say at least they are in touch with their feminine side. :devil:
These guys are of all ages, hetro/metro males... dont CD, and are not gay.... ( as some see those that wear pink as being gay)...:battingeyelashes:

so why are colors gendered, I know I grew up with pink was for gurls...., blue for boys,.. but then those that are into all colors, a bit like "Joseph and his technicolor dream coat." that has several meanings. I dont see colors as being gendered though... what ever suits your mood....LOL..

[maturegirlrobin]

I just adore pink ! I have pink skirts, dresses , shorts and I really love pink lipstick !

[Joanne f]

[QUOTE=Ze xx;1710905]

Many years ago red used to be the colour for boys as it was considered a stronger colour than blue, I don't know when the colours switched though.

Yes you are right , first of all it was white for all baby's(boys and girls)and it was a white dress, then it changed to red or pink for a boy because it was looked upon as a strong colour by Christians, and blue for girls as it was associated with the virgin marry and therefore considered feminine.
After WW1 blue became a male colour dew to the blue uniforms for men and the pink was pushed as a female colour.

[Tasha McIntyre]

I have 6yo twin boys, one of which is a real boy's boy.....everything is trucks and batman etc. He almost always colours with dark pencils. The other boy is quite central, happy to play with any toys, whether it be Dora the Explorer or Transformers, and has a tendency to colour with the brighter pencils.

Maybe because of who I am, I notice this difference.

Tash :)

[Gabrielle Hermosa]

My "girl color" is black, baby! :)

Black like my nails and super-thick eyeliner!

I love black. I even married my wife just because she has black hair. :D

Ok, that had little to do with anything aside from the fact that I thought it looked awesome. But black is my favorite color, girly ot not. When I'm girly, BLACK is girly. Black rocks! :)

[pickles]

Now we're blaming crayons?

[Marshchild]

My faves are purple, pink, silver, pink, gold and purple, apricot and pink. Oh, and pink and silver.
Ta Ta
Juliet

I've often heard it said that silver is a girls' colour, which I find sort of weird given its association with the Space Age, cutting-edge technology, bullets, blades and other "guy stuff". I've come to the conclusion, though, that silver is a boys' colour too, just not when it comes to clothes!


I have 6yo twin boys, one of which is a real boy's boy.....everything is trucks and batman etc. He almost always colours with dark pencils.

I've often gotten the impression that darker colours are considered more masculine. I remember that, for a time back in the '90s here, it was possible to buy men's satin pyjamas, and that most of the pairs in the stores were in rather dark shades. On the topic of dark colours, I remember once seeing a roll of material in a fabric shop that looked black, yet, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a very dark shade of green - the darkest I'd ever seen. While I found the fabric interesting for that reason, I wasn't sure I'd have wanted to have gotten anything made out of it - there just didn't seem any point in wearing a colour that'd be so easily confused with another.

[TGMarla]

there is no such thing as girl or boy colors.

Wrong. There is in our society. Pink is almost strictly reserved for girls. Sure, men can wear it, like in a pink Polo shirt, or a Van Heusen dress shirt, but he does so knowing that others will view him that day with a footnote that he's wearing pink, a feminine color. We're taught from birth that pink is for girls, and blue is for boys. The conditioning starts very early. Never mind that blue is for girls, too. But pink is more or less off-limits for guys. They wear it at their own risk to their perceived manhood.

Right or wrong, this is the way it is.

Oh, and I like pastels, like powder blue, pink, and seafoam green. :battingeyelashes:

[Stitch]

Wrong. There is in our society. Pink is almost strictly reserved for girls. Sure, men can wear it, like in a pink Polo shirt, or a Van Heusen dress shirt, but he does so knowing that others will view him that day with a footnote that he's wearing pink, a feminine color. We're taught from birth that pink is for girls, and blue is for boys. The conditioning starts very early. Never mind that blue is for girls, too. But pink is more or less off-limits for guys. They wear it at their own risk to their perceived manhood.

Right or wrong, this is the way it is.

Oh, and I like pastels, like powder blue, pink, and seafoam green. :battingeyelashes:

Not necessary true. The Idea that pink is a girls colour didn't come around till the 1920s. Before Pink was a masculine colour as it was related to red, and blue was a girls colour it was regarded as more dainty and delicate. Mainly since it was associated with the Virgin Mary.

I personally hate gender colour stereotypes. I work with a child who is very set in gender roles and always forces the colours pink and yellow at me because they are girl colours. Never mind the fact that Purple and Green are my favourites. God help me if I want to be blue.

[Ralph]

Not necessary true. The Idea that pink is a girls colour didn't come around till the 1920s. Before Pink was a masculine colour as it was related to red, and blue was a girls colour it was regarded as more dainty and delicate. Mainly since it was associated with the Virgin Mary.
Awww, you beat me to it. Mythbusting is my favorite game around here. Didn't know about the Virgin Mary connection! Hmmm.

[Marshchild]

Wrong. There is in our society. Pink is almost strictly reserved for girls. Sure, men can wear it, like in a pink Polo shirt, or a Van Heusen dress shirt, but he does so knowing that others will view him that day with a footnote that he's wearing pink, a feminine color. We're taught from birth that pink is for girls, and blue is for boys. The conditioning starts very early. Never mind that blue is for girls, too. But pink is more or less off-limits for guys. They wear it at their own risk to their perceived manhood.

Right or wrong, this is the way it is.

Oh well. I've worn pink (and pink satin at that) in male mode for years now, and seem to have gotten away with it for the most part, maybe because people realize I don't really care if they think I'm a sissy (sure, I've had the occasional stranger express um... "objections" to my choice of colour, but who really cares about people like that?). Admittedly my fondness for pink did get me christened "Pinky"* by my brother's friends at University, and did earn me a joking elbow in the ribs by a friend when we were watching the movie 'Casino', whose opening scene shows Robert de Niro in a lurid pink sports jacket (then again, that movie was set in the '70s!). Ah well, 'twas all in fun!

*The name, coincidentally, of a character in some of the 'Friday' movies who wore a lot of pink clothing (even pink shoes!), and drove a pink car. He rocked!


Not necessary true. The Idea that pink is a girls colour didn't come around till the 1920s. Before Pink was a masculine colour as it was related to red, and blue was a girls colour it was regarded as more dainty and delicate. Mainly since it was associated with the Virgin Mary.

I personally hate gender colour stereotypes. I work with a child who is very set in gender roles and always forces the colours pink and yellow at me because they are girl colours. Never mind the fact that Purple and Green are my favourites. God help me if I want to be blue.

Does this child always want to wear those colours herself (assuming it's a she), or just force them on you? Just curious. Interestingly, with regards to your own favourite colours, someone once told me that purple and green were colours associated with the feminist movement. Don't know how much truth there was to that assertion, although I did once see a bunch of badges for some feminist cause, whose most prominent colours were green and purple. As for green alone, I've also heard it said that that colour is traditionally the colour of Islam, which perhaps explains why one Islamic country (Libya) has a flag that's just a plain expanse of that colour and nothing else (that'd have to be one of those paradoxical examples of something so boring it's actually kind of interesting!). That's moving a bit off-topic, I know; I just thought you might find it interesting.

As for the association of blue with the Virgin Mary, while that does seem to be the colour she's most often depicted wearing, a Catholic priest once told me that she was most unlikely to have worn it during her time on Earth. He didn't elaborate on why that was the case, but I'm assuming it was because during the time of Christ, blue would have been one of those colours (like purple) that only the rich could have afforded to wear.

[Angie G]

Kid do say the cutest thing. My 4 year old grandkids naver fail to make me smile with what they come up with.:hugs:
Angie

[Stitch]

Does this child always want to wear those colours herself (assuming it's a she), or just force them on you? Just curious. Interestingly, with regards to your own favourite colours, someone once told me that purple and green were colours associated with the feminist movement. Don't know how much truth there was to that assertion, although I did once see a bunch of badges for some feminist cause, whose most prominent colours were green and purple. As for green alone, I've also heard it said that that colour is traditionally the colour of Islam, which perhaps explains why one Islamic country (Libya) has a flag that's just a plain expanse of that colour and nothing else (that'd have to be one of those paradoxical examples of something so boring it's actually kind of interesting!). That's moving a bit off-topic, I know; I just thought you might find it interesting.



No, he is a little boy on the Autistic spectrum. He always has to have green, red and blue. He pitches a fit if he has to have something he deams girly. If we are painting he will pick up a green apron and say "is this a boys apron?" or if its tennis he wants a "boys racket" and tells me I should have the Pink one. I'm trying to teach him that people can choose what they like and that there are no colours for gender. In a way its endearing he has a really outdated view on gender roles. Ladies stay home and cook, Men go out to work. This even passed on to his view of dinosaurs! He was shocked and appalled when he found out that female T-Rex's were bigger, stronger and were more aggressive annnnd to top it off! They didn't even look after their own babies. Hehe.

As for my favourite colours. I had no idea about the feminist movements. I just like purple because its a lovely rich colour, and green because I am "a child of nature" :heehee: No hidden meanings behind them. I also like brown. Not many people who like brown I don't think.

[Marshchild]

No, he is a little boy on the Autistic spectrum. He always has to have green, red and blue. He pitches a fit if he has to have something he deems girly. If we are painting he will pick up a green apron and say "is this a boys apron?" or if its tennis he wants a "boys racket" and tells me I should have the Pink one. I'm trying to teach him that people can choose what they like and that there are no colours for gender.

Interesting about this boy being autistic. I'm sure it has nothing to do with his views on gender roles, but I've heard it said that people with autism have "extremely male" brains. (As an equally interesting aside, I've also heard it said that the most "extremely female" brains tend to be found in women with Turner's Syndrome - that intersex condition in which a woman has only one X chromosome.) I was also interested to hear what his favourite colours were. Again, I'm sure it has nothing to do with anything, but I've heard that red, blue and green are the three "primary" colours in film and television (and the human eye as well, come to think of it) - every other colour that appears on the screen is essentially a combination of them.

Hmm, I wonder where he got the idea that yellow was a girls' colour from? It always struck me as a unisex colour, though of course there's that silly association of it with cowardice: something that may tie in with the equally silly association of femininity with weakness.


In a way its endearing he has a really outdated view on gender roles. Ladies stay home and cook, Men go out to work.

Yes, children's views on gender roles can be rather endearing. I remember once getting quite a shock as a young 'un when I learnt that a playmate was a girl. "She [or rather he] can't be!" I thought at the time. "S/he's got short hair!"


This even passed on to his view of dinosaurs! He was shocked and appalled when he found out that female T-Rex's were bigger, stronger and were more aggressive annnnd to top it off! They didn't even look after their own babies. Hehe.

Well, whatever you do, don't tell him about seahorses! :heehee:


As for my favourite colours. I had no idea about the feminist movements. I just like purple because its a lovely rich colour, and green because I am "a child of nature" :heehee: No hidden meanings behind them. I also like brown. Not many people who like brown I don't think.

Yeah, I'm quite partial to purple myself, and for much the same reason. As for brown, there used to be a teacher at my old school who was notorious for wearing that colour and pretty much nothing else. He apparently once tried to convince a bunch of students his favourite colour was actually maroon, but no-one believed his lies! :devil: