Think Pink
Essay Preview: Think Pink
Report this essay
Think pink. Everywhere you look, gender colors are encrypted into America’s society. Pink is supposed to represent daintiness and sweetness; it is the color that defines women. One must wonder, however, if women even like the color pink. Is it possible that we have been trained and conditioned for over a century to adore the color given to us at conception? The color pink is associated with women from the moment of birth through clothing, stories, toys, brands, and advertisements.
Pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Before a child is even brought home from the hospital he/she has already been wrapped in the color blanket “assigned” to its gender. The paint for the nursery and that little ring around the top of the baby’s bottle is already decided upon. From the moment they first open their eyes the world around them is overwhelmed with either pink or blue. Gender conditioning of the child has already begun at this point. We as a society have already begun training these children to associate these colors according to sex. Continuing, as these children grow, their mothers dress the little girls in pink dresses, usually lined with lace or glitter. Without much of a choice, girls spend the beginning years of their lives wearing soft, pastel colors that make the girls’ look and feel more feminine.
Mothers who are nurturers do not realize that they are conditioning their little girls to relate feminism to the color pink. Pink dresses and ribbons are worn to create images of being delicate. Girls get more attention as children when they dress up like baby dolls, so by second nature this behavior continues into their later years. When they are finally old enough to make their own decisions on what they will wear, most will subconsciously choose pink when they want to be seen as feminine or sexy.
As Brownmiller states in her article Femininity, girls are given a certain education in the art of being a woman. Girls are given dolls in lacey dresses with rosy cheeks, long hair, and more than likely a pink hairbrush. They are enticed to play games such as “house” or “school” through the toys purchased for them like pretend food or a tea set. They are rocked to sleep being told stories of women, usually princesses, waiting for their prince charmings to come and rescue them. Even further, girls grow up seeing what advertisements and stores are projecting as feminine and trendy, and it just so happens that for decades the color pink has been a permanent characteristic of these products.
Victoria’s Secret is one of many chain stores that capitalize on the color pink. For the last few years, their line of clothing labeled PINK has been one their best selling lines across the country. Woman and girls knowingly love this line of clothing for its comfort, and at the same time unknowingly for what the brand represents. The brand is known for its sexual and promiscuous nature. This clothing is full of bright colors with the name