crfriend wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2024 1:36 am
It used to be considered that pink, as a dilute shade of red, was appropriate for boys as red was the colour of warriors. Blue was regarded as a peaceful and staid colour and was appropriate for girls.
I think the "pink is only for girls" idea is a bit more complicated these days. A few decades ago, no boy would have considered wearing anything pink and nor would a grown man. Times have changed in that regard, but not as much as we might imagine. A boy can wear a pink skirt these days, but pink trousers? Pink pyjamas? Pink sports shoes? Could he choose a pink rucksack for school or a pink bike?
While I detect an unfairness, i.e. nobody cares if a girl or woman has blue items, I'm not too hung up on this if people want to use colour as a signifier. How does a girl signify she is girly? How does a woman express her femininity in colour? They opt for pink. I am not inclined to take that away from them.
On a side note, I recall some years ago feminists were alleging something called "the pink tax" claiming that goods marketed for women and girls were substantially more expensive than their counterparts in the men's ranges. They cited as examples deodorant and disposable shavers. I recall a production director from a major company, possibly Unilever, pointing out two things. First, the plastic used in razors has to be made with pigments. The pink pigment cost forty times (yes forty times!) as much to buy as the blue pigment, which meant production costs were unavoidably higher. He suggested women just buy the blue ones as they were essentially the same product. Second, men's deodorant contained ingredients like sandalwood and musk to provide the fragrance and these are really cheap feminine products, on the other hand, were made with expensive feminine perfumes like jasmine and rose. Again, this meant production costs for women's products were unavoidably higher and so they cost more.
Stu
