Old Wives' Tales | Blue For Boys; Pink For Girls; Gender Colors | Sayings Superstitions Folklore
A co-worker of mine mentioned this a few months back -- that "it used to be that boys wore pink because it was a derivative of red which was a 'more masculine' color", which I'd never heard. And when I just walked by some restroom signs -- pink for the women's room, blue for the men's room -- it got me thinking. Here's what I found!
"For a period of time baby boys and girls, in America and some of the European countries, didn't have a gender color thought as young children predominantly wore the unisex color of white. Then, around the 1850s, France, and some other European countries, felt pink was a 'strong' color therefore suitable for boys and girls looked prettier in the delicate shades of blue. This color assignation was brought over to America. Yes, some of our fathers may have worn pink as infants!
"It wasn't until almost 100 years later, around the mid-to-late 1930's and after World War II, that the gender color thoughts acquired more commercialized thoughts. In the process girls were awarded the formerly felt strong but now regarded as delicate color of pink. Boys given the former 'dainty' but now felt 'strong' color of blue. Today we often associate the color pink to little girls without realizing was just all a part of a marketing scheme aimed at adults."
A co-worker of mine mentioned this a few months back -- that "it used to be that boys wore pink because it was a derivative of red which was a 'more masculine' color", which I'd never heard. And when I just walked by some restroom signs -- pink for the women's room, blue for the men's room -- it got me thinking. Here's what I found!
"For a period of time baby boys and girls, in America and some of the European countries, didn't have a gender color thought as young children predominantly wore the unisex color of white. Then, around the 1850s, France, and some other European countries, felt pink was a 'strong' color therefore suitable for boys and girls looked prettier in the delicate shades of blue. This color assignation was brought over to America. Yes, some of our fathers may have worn pink as infants!
"It wasn't until almost 100 years later, around the mid-to-late 1930's and after World War II, that the gender color thoughts acquired more commercialized thoughts. In the process girls were awarded the formerly felt strong but now regarded as delicate color of pink. Boys given the former 'dainty' but now felt 'strong' color of blue. Today we often associate the color pink to little girls without realizing was just all a part of a marketing scheme aimed at adults."
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