The problem with pink: Part 1
Pink in girls’ toys has become so standard a concept that it is hard to believe that it is a recent phenomenon. That is what you will learn, among some other valuable things, in an outstanding piece entitled “The Power of Pink.” It was published by the British newspaper, The Guardian and it contains some mind breaking information on the color pink and its association with girls.
It seems that pink has only recently been a girl’s color. In fact, earlier in the 20th century it was the color of choice for boys. Here is how the article puts it:
Towards the end of the great war, in June 1918, America’s most authoritative women’s magazine, the Ladies’ Home Journal (it still exists), had a few wise words of advice for fretting mothers. "There has been a great diversity of debate on the subject," it wrote, "but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl… A few years earlier, the Sunday Sentinel had been of the same opinion: ‘use pink for the boy and blue for the girl,’ it said in March 1914, "if you are a follower of convention."’
Wow! Who knew?
In my next blog, some comments on the “PinkStinks” movment.
