Presented by 4-year-old Riley, who doesn’t see why she should be coerced into liking princesses and pink.
For various takes on why this false pink/blue dichotomy is being touted, try blogs like:
- Pharyngula: So this is what skepticism has come to? and We still haven’t explained pink
- Bad Science: Pink, pink, pink, pink. Pink moan.
- xkcd blag: Color Survey Results (a bit of harmless but telling fun)
The first two have references to other articles that you can read. A quick perusal of the abstract of this study in the British Journal of Psychology suggests it’s all a form of brainwashing in order to target the public more easily with sales pitches. Personally, I think it’s more a case of selling to the mothers – who tend to do most of the shopping – via the sentimentality gland.
Barbie pink is the ugliest colour is the world. It is actively aggressive to the eye, looks cheap as hell, and to add insult to injury, coordinates with absolutely nothing. Dressing little girls in several different shades of pink should be considered a form of child abuse. Mixing in orange and zebra stripes (I have seen this) is a crime against humanity.
Pastel blue is another foul, washed-out colour, only acceptable if decently shrouded by a dark jacket or similar. At least men aren’t expected to love pale blue all their lives, though. It’s even becoming acceptable to wear pink or lavender shirts without being called gay.
Think I’ll wear the black sweater today. With red trousers and the socks with saxophones on. Nice, conservative gear.
Related articles
- I Agree with This Little Girl about Pink Things [Video] (kotaku.com)
- Video: Cute kid questions why girls must like pink (sfgate.com)
- Why Do Girls Get Stuck with Pink? (fox4kc.com)
anarchic teapot
Site owner. Opinionated bugger. Qualified accountant, IT bod and French-English translator. I swear a lot.anarchic teapot has written 64 posts on this blog.