Everything for females, whether its backpack, mobiles, pens, bags, slippers, tops, skirts, cars... are in PINK! oH mY gOD! overwhelmingly pink! If you type pink today in google search, you will get pictures of girls or their products having pink colour or wearing pink!
In the streets of Mauritius, when i wear pink and go out. I dont find a single man wearing my shade. i feel odd at times. But what i am doing is true? Am i setting a trend? No! I am not a famous fashion designer to bring in a change on the mindsets of people.
Hey what am i talking about? what does this word "anymore" mean above?... does it mean that pink was not considered to be feminine till sometime back!? really? lets look back...
I remember, when i was studying about colour, it was said that RED is a warm colour.. Any shades of red are warm.. same with BLUE. It along with greens were considered to be cool colours and soothing to eyes. I thought why not blue for girls and pink or red for boys...and why pink for girls..
In 1918, Ladies’ Home Journal article declared that: “There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. 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.”
Since Pink was closer to Red, it was considered to be a warm colour in 1920s and thus it was perceived that it would suit boys and thus all the kids were worn pink in their childhood. Same way, Blue was considered to be a cool colour in the colour spectrum making it a desired colour for girls. Even there were frequent associations with Virgin Mary.
The assosiation of Homosexuality later in the decade brought a significant change in the perception of colours. Along with the European legends and storytellers significantly associating the colour pink to their female characters, the PINK colour became a symbol for feminism in no time. Its also considered that the fashion industry changed after the 2nd World War and wanted to experiment completely different.
It was a huge change going away from their dull and monotonous colours which were the symbolisms for sexuality for decades. for them, PINK was more exciting for the females. They changed the concept of bringing in more lively pink and changing the notion that PINK was not for females :)
It was an entire re-invention of women. Something that never happened earlier. from magazines to cosmetics to consumer products that were targeted towards women. everything changed to match up with the trend. It was different. It was lively. It was widely being adopted in the World. So globally many people started association the colour PINK as the marked colour to differentiate girls from boys. Even in young age, the pink colour was restricted to be used as a symbol for boys.. creating a feminine feeling of pink never to be associated with boys :)
Its strange, but we are still living in a globalised world ! But one thing is sure. I have never seen a colour association to be changed to dramatically and drastically in a single century. Amazing indeed!
