Photo: Poseidon
What is it about pink that makes us want to squeal and pinch stuff? In other words, why is pink so damn cute?
Turns out, it wasn’t always a symbol of femininity like we tend to think of it today. The practice of assigning a color to an individual gender didn’t begin until the 1920s – and believe it or not, back then pink was considered an appropriate color for boys – as a derivative of red! Pale blue, on the other hand, was thought to be dainty and delicate enough for girls. All this finally changed in 1940s, and pink became the girls’ color for good.
As an estrogen junky, I have an overt obsession with pink and ravenously collect objects of this color – boxes, purses, shoes, art… It’s like a sugar rush that never gets old and is always ever so satisfying. To me, pink is beautiful: it’s that rosy blush splashed across a cute girl’s face; a shiny new Barbie doll box about to be opened; the tiny crystals atop of a freshly-baked cookie.
Contrary to popular belief, pink isn’t just for little girls. It’s come to symbolize love and sexuality: pink is kink! It’s glamor: a touch of magenta can sass up an otherwise monochromatic outfit and turn a girl-next-door into a fabulous vixen with a single stroke of fuchsia lipstick. But above all, we love pink for its simple yet uncanny ability to transform the bland and the ordinary into extraordinary and darling. Observe!
Deerlings: Do you love pink as much as I do? What does it mean to you?
Hi, love the new blog Deere. I used to really not like pink, but I think I have come into some femininity in the past few years and I don’t know how pink relates but it does. I love pink now! XOXO
Aether – I’m shocked you didn’t used to like pink! Tsk tsk tsk. Welcome to the family! :)
There’s a sweet book out called Pink Attitude that has some great representations of how much we use and adore pink these days. There are more books in the series and several are set for release in September and October. ’tis most excellent :)
Here’s what I posted in LJ:
In the psychology realm, pink is used to calm thoughts of anger and free thought. It’s used in prisons for this purpose.
# Pink is thought to have a calming effect. One shade known as “drunk-tank pink” is sometimes used in prisons to calm inmates. Sports teams sometimes paint the opposing teams locker room pink to keep the players passive and less energetic.
This is also the reason it was used in baby girls’ rooms, though most people don’t know that. Keep them submissive and easily led.
The quote in the middle is from about psychology, but it’s easily found throughout the interweb.
I know lots of girls who turn their noses up at pink for being too Barbie, but I think pink is great and l.o.v.e. hot pink.
And those appliances are adorable.
Loving the blog. For myself, Pink is me. Silly thing to say, I used to hate pink, then one day I decided I must have pink hair. I’ve been other colours but for me I can’t go any colour other than pink and the few times I’ve changed it it just never felt right. If I could of been born with pink hair I think I would of been (sure would save on hair dye). And pink, how can you not love it anyway?
I remember reading about pink being a boys color and blue a girls color in my Women’s Studies class.
Anyway, I adore the color pink, but that could just be social influence.
Tygenco – thanks for posting a link to that book, it’s DELICIOUS! I can’t stop looking at it. :))
Belinda – it’s interesting that the use pink in prisons. I had no idea. But I was thinking – sure, pale pink seems calming… but not any more so than, say, baby blue or light green. Also – historically, women had been conditioned to be more passive long before pink was ‘assigned’ to the gender, which makes me question how big a role pink played in their development. Thank you for such a thought-provoking comment!
Annie Spandex – I’ll tell you a secret. I didn’t used to like pink either. Because a lot of the pink stuff you see is either cheap-looking (probably for kids) or downright vulgar. Finding tasteful pink items can be a challenge but the rewards are always worth the search!
Clara – I can just picture headlines: “World’s first PINK-haired baby born!” Hehe!
Eightoclock – I think our obsession with pink goes way beyond social influence. We don’t just accept it, we’re WAYYYYY into it ;)
For me, pink is energy. It gives me a perk like no other color! I love to add splashes of hot pink, be on my socks in my hair. It just adds so much character to things that are so blah without it :)
I knew about pink being a “masculine” color awhile ago; I think it was supposed to scare away the demons, and since at the time, having a boy around the farm was more important than having a girl, it was imperative that demons and other maladies didn’t mess with them. I found that very interesting and had always wondered why it shifted!
Having been a tomboy growing up, I rejected the color pink just out of spite. Then a couple of years ago, a friend of mine said something along the lines of: You shouldn’t hate the color pink because of the stereotypes other people put on it. The color did nothing wrong! It sounds so silly, but after she said that, I started liking the color a whole lot more.
Pink is joy. It’s when you see a Barbiedoll and think “Oh I used to play with those when I was young.”. Pink makes ma just happy and I love that.
My friends always say “Girl you got to much stuff in Pink!”. But I think you can never ever have to much pinkstuff.
Cristina – oh how I wish I was around when pink became a girls’ color and blue a boys’! I wonder what happened that prompted such a drastic switch. Good for you for liking pink! :)
Mini – Damn right you can’t have too much pink!!! :D
Sometimes I wish the world were pink.
Pink is amazing. It makes you feel happy and cheery and bouncy.
(thus the choice of my name. :D teehee.)
Hmm…it’s hard to put my finger on it, but I have always been drawn to pink, especially when it comes to lipgloss. When I lived alone, my entire house was Shabby Chic – flower prints from floor to ceiling and lots of pink, especially in my dining room, where I had baby pink walls, a pink chandelier, pink floral seat cushions, you get the picture…it was glorious!! When my boyfriend and I bought our house, he begged me not to make him “live in a dollhouse.” lol I could understand his wish and said I wouldn’t. I saw this as a compromise rather than just bending to his wishes or giving over my identity (which might seemingly conflict with my response about women changing their names when they marry, but hey – I’m a girl, and I’m allowed to seemingly contradict myself!). But instead of pink, now there is a lot of red in almost every room, and that’s the compromise. Red is just pink turned up a fiery notch anyway – it’s pink with a little more passion, maybe. And I still have one room that’s all girly, and part of my hair is dyed pink, so I still feel complete. :)
Pink reminds me of childhood – my room wasn’t even pink then (it was light blue!), but it reminds me of babydolls and play makeup. Pink is the soft, clean scent of Johnson’s Baby Lotion…and of Love’s Baby Soft perfume – remember that?? It’s strawberry lip balm and hair ribbons and flushing from shyness (or from Benefit’s Dandelion powder) and big, fluffy peonies…aaaahhhhhhh.
Wanted to add that I did not get rid of any of my pink stuff. (I could never part with it.) Most of it is crammed into that one room, and the rest is safely stored. All I have to say is…someday when I have a daughter, I hope she likes pink, ’cause all the stuff is probably going in her room! :) Or if I have a boy and he likes it, that’s fine with me too! And I will probably spend more time in my child’s room than she does because I will want to revel in its glory all day long. ha
Do stop by if you get a chance sometime for we are have a pink contest going on right now @ themanyshadesofpink.blogspot.com
Hope to see you there and I’ll be back again soon.
Sondra
well…pink in all of it’s hues can remind me on many many things! The most subtle transclucent pink reminds me of the cotton candy i would eat and then “wear” on my face as a child.Hot pink is the official Barbia colour :P so yes…it does remind me of my favorite dolls and their 3-story house. Baby pink is one of my favorite pinks…it reminds me of the Rococo era,the most frivolous, feminine and subtly glamorous style of all times! My most favorite of all though…is a dark reddish strawberry pink that i have painted one of the walls of my room with. Waking up in it makes me feel like a princess!!!
I also love pink for it’s versatility when combined with other colours! Here’s a few of them:
1. strawberry pink + white = modern feminine
2. baby pink + gold = rococo glamour
3. hot pink + black = punk baby!!!
4. cotton candy pink + strawberry pink = adult barbie (my room :P)
5. cotton candy pink + chartreuse = pop garden in spring
6. light pink + warm earthy brown = asian princess jasmin
… and that’s only a few…
Pink is a way of living! You should see my apartment…everything is pink. :-) My 2 laptops, my curtains, candles, plates, blankets, chairs…even my vacuum. :-) It matches my pink hair haha!
Oh, how I wish I had sooner discovered the wonderful world of pinks!
Strangely enough, pink is my boyfriend’s favourite colour. Possibly the reason I now like it so much?
Not a pink person… I just don’t see the appeal. Give me a nice royal blue any day!
Pink’s an intresting color…
Awesome! :D Nice article. I also lalalaloooove pink! Good place to find other pink lovers. Haha!
The appliances are cute! :) When I get a house of my own, I’d like it to be color pink. Haha! :))
I luv pink too. I dressed my pony in pink, it was definitely her color! She was my first pet my father gave me for my 12th bday….had her til the day she died. She was my ‘pinkpony”
I love pink so much because pink colour means happiness to me because when i have cute pink stuffs and look at beautiful pink colour.. i feel so happy, calm and happy along the way.. pink colour is like pampering me and making me happy to be a girl… Go pink! hehe..
Hi there! Pink isn’t my first choice at all in the past and somehow..i got influenced and start to like pink more n more..now I’m in love with pink! So glad to find so many girls loving pink as well =)
i really love pink too!! and when i watch Barbie movies i feel very delight ’cause i love all the things that there are! and i love pink thing too and cute things
well, pink it’s my favourite color in all my life!!!
pink it’s part of my soul and make me feel great when i used because i can express myself <3