how pink became female ?

[linda booth]

This is further to the button thread. I heard a radio documentary on the color pink. Before the 20th century pink was a male color & blue was female. Pink was supposed to be a hot emotional color. Since women weren't supposed to have sexual thoughts or were supposed to suppress them - they were discouraged from wearing pink. The show never did explain how these sex colors were reversed.

[Amberhea]

I heard this same story on NPR the other day. Very interesting for sure.

[Candice Mae]

The question to ask here is do you only want to wear pink because of its acceptance as a feminine color by society? To in turn fill the need to be feminine in your mind, or to you just like the color with out the ties to being Feminine? Just like a bra if it was a unisex garment worn only to support the breasts of a human regardless of gender. I'd bet a lot of members here would only wear a bra when or if they need to.

If blue was still considered feminine you would want to wear it, because that's what your mind would think is feminine.

I see my mini dress as feminine, it being pink is just a bonus as I look good in pink.

[Beverley Sims]

The question I ask,"When did "Pink" transition"?

I didn't see anything about it in the magazines. :)

Candice,

You summed it up very well.

I would probably go for bright green if that was considered the feminine benchmark of color.

[Keri L]

I agree with Candace--my toenails would have been a nice light blue, but hot pink "seemed" more femme, so I went with that. Although, now, I am thinking a nice lavender would be pretty, LOL!

[linda booth]

Actually, why I like pink ( and it being considered feminine wasn't on my mind). In the documentary many women were quoted saying how much they hated pink. If a boy wore pink he could get beat up. I was amazed at how emotional people could get over a color. That's why I wonder how at the beginning of the 20th century the sex role for this color could be reversed. This color makes people so angry !

[ArleneRaquel]

Most of my bathroom towels are pink !

[ophelia]

Isn't it always the case that suppressing anything on moral grounds will make it even more popular?
Look at Flamenco music, music rooted in Morrocco which was suppressed by the church. People went into caves and forests and played it at night....by fire light....hence Flamenco!...
This is further to the button thread. I heard a radio documentary on the color pink. Before the 20th century pink was a male color & blue was female. Pink was supposed to be a hot emotional color. Since women weren't supposed to have sexual thoughts or were supposed to suppress them - they were discouraged from wearing pink. The show never did explain how these sex colors were reversed.

[Lisa Gerrie]

Here is the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297159948/girls-are-taught-to-think-pink-but-that-wasnt-always-so

Also http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/?all&no-ist

[karennjcd]

Just a few comments here:

Men still wear pink shirts without impunity -- I've seen pink shirts worn with a suit and tie. So perhaps pink isn't totally feminine.

Next, the word "pink" covers a broad spectrum. Shades of pink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_pink) include magenta, fuchsia, hot pink, baby pink, and many more.... And I think all of us who purchase clothes as much as we do recognize the differences between them, and that some don't match others. My point is that perhaps a baby pink would be considered more feminine than say the pink found on what would be a man's shirt.

Karen

[Anna H]

I guess this means I can wear my pink short-shorts anywhere now!

I'll just laugh at all the sissies I see wearing "blue" jeans! What
a bunch of Girly Men! lol

[Jason+]

Just a few comments here:

Men still wear pink shirts without impunity -- I've seen pink shirts worn with a suit and tie. So perhaps pink isn't totally feminine.

Next, the word "pink" covers a broad spectrum. Shades of pink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_pink) include magenta, fuchsia, hot pink, baby pink, and many more.... And I think all of us who purchase clothes as much as we do recognize the differences between them, and that some don't match others. My point is that perhaps a baby pink would be considered more feminine than say the pink found on what would be a man's shirt.

Karen

Men have found a way to wear pink. They call it salmon instead. Who could dispute the prowess and power of the mighty male salmon swimming upstream to spawn? (We'll just casually disregard the egg producing female salmon for this exercise in male-centric thinking even though she swims just as far and hard as he does to reach the spawning grounds in fact reaching it first and starting the process.)

[Kate Simmons]

Just imagine, if they hadn't changed it we would now be experiencing the "blue fog". If we would invoke color therapy, blue is tranquility and pink is healing. The colors really have nothing to do with the feelings, we've just been programmed to think they do.:)

[Marcelle]

What is really interesting is that as late as the 1900s gender of small children (right up until age 6 or 7 in some cases) was neutral. Boys and girls both wore dresses (take a look a the picture of small children from that time). In addition, boys did not receive their first gender specific haircut until age 6 or 7 and pink was definitely the colour of boys. Pink was associated with the colour red which was more war like whereas blue was associated with the colour of the Madonna and was considered more delicate. Pink/Blue became gender neutral colours in the early 1900s for nurseries but still favoured boys. It was not until Sigmund Freud and his theories on sexuality that parents began differentiating the gender of babies by colour and blue/pink began to become more set as gender specific but remained blurred between boys and girls until the 1940s when society put pastel pink clearly in the female side and blue in the male side. By the 1950s it was common that pastel colours (pink included) were seen as more delicate and feminine and was quickly used to differentiate boys from girls at birth.

Hugs

Isha

[BLUE ORCHID]

I have no problems wearing my pink shirts.

[Lorna]

The pink/blue female/male gender stereotyping is interesting. I heard about a completely new aspect of it a week or so ago but as my post will be wuite long I'll start a new thread rather than hi-jack this one.

[Orihime]

What is really interesting is that as late as the 1900s gender of small children (right up until age 6 or 7 in some cases) was neutral. Boys and girls both wore dresses (take a look a the picture of small children from that time). In addition, boys did not receive their first gender specific haircut until age 6 or 7 and pink was definitely the colour of boys. Pink was associated with the colour red which was more war like whereas blue was associated with the colour of the Madonna and was considered more delicate. Pink/Blue became gender neutral colours in the early 1900s for nurseries but still favoured boys. It was not until Sigmund Freud and his theories on sexuality that parents began differentiating the gender of babies by colour and blue/pink began to become more set as gender specific but remained blurred between boys and girls until the 1940s when society put pastel pink clearly in the female side and blue in the male side. By the 1950s it was common that pastel colours (pink included) were seen as more delicate and feminine and was quickly used to differentiate boys from girls at birth.

Hugs

Isha

That's really enlightening. I guess my preference to blue is in essence a transference of my desire to enjoy more fem things. Who knows... lol Maybe Freud does ;)

[trisha kobichenko]

Love Isha's take on this. How much of what we take for granted is just what we have been spoon-fed by 'authority' without question?

[Zylia]

I wouldn't blame the 'authorities'. Babies sure as hell aren't born with pink or blue onesies, so someone had to make it up at one point.

[FeliciaCDSNJ]

I see pink coming back into men's fashion. I've seen a guy wearing hot pink shoe laces on his sneakers with a powder pink shirt on, of course his pants were below his butt but that's no the point lol. I like pink for the color not because it represents being feminine. I know I'm a woman on the inside and no matter what I wear, I will always feel that. Now to work on getting on hrt and the other.

Men of yester-year have worn a lot of garments that are now traditionally women's, like skirts, stockings, high heels, make-up, wigs, and dresses, yet in these times they are frowned upon when a guy wears what was originally worn by men. It cracks me up.

[pinklilly211]

All I know is I ended-up with a BUNCH of pink socks due to a laundry blunder LOL!!!

[Meg East]

Since the sixties I have always worn pink shirts. The only time I was ever harassed was at a church meeting where some old dude chased me saying I was "brave" to wear pink.

[Robbin_Sinclair]

... I heard a radio documentary on the color pink. Before the 20th century pink was a male color & blue was female. Pink was supposed to be a hot emotional color....The show never did explain how these sex colors were reversed.

The first thing I think of is Thomas Gainsborough's "The Blue Boy." That little dude looked more masculine than feminine...although creepy is more like it. I can't think of anything in the art world that confirms that thought about pre-20th century goings on. But, there is a lot of pre-20th century, including the 18th century Romantic Revolution. Also, just because it did not make it to an artist's canvas, doesn't mean it did not exist.

All you do is mix red and white and what you got. Panty colors, hooray! :hugs:

[Anna H]

All I know is I ended-up with a BUNCH of pink socks due to a laundry blunder LOL!!!

That still happens to me sometimes. I'm OK with it too!
I hate messing with RIT Dye. Anything that saves me some time....lol!

[Tasha'sLaboratory]

I saw the the title and for a second I thought you meant Pink the singer.

I have noticed several men wearing pink shirts lately too though.

[VAWyman]

The way I heard it was that it all started long ago when fighting men would wear red into battle because it didn't show blood. As it was worn it started to fade, into pink. The guy with the pinkest outfit was the most skilled at fighting and winning, so the enemy would avoid him and go after the brightest red, the inexperienced fighter. The pinker your outfit, the greater the honor. When/why it transitioned is anyone's guess.

[suspender]

What if we were all colour blind? I gather some of us are, but I can wear pink one day and black the next in both femme clothing or nail polish and like both equally (got pink candy crush on at the moment). Colours general evoke some form of feeling or emotion, which we find in the painting of rooms etc. I also like Pink the singer as Tasha raised, her concerts are awesome. I don't care if its seen as boy or girl, I like to feel I am both.