Since Peanut was born, we've been deluged in a sea of pink...pink sweaters, pink blankets, pink bibs, pink burp cloths. It seems that people love forcing their pinkness onto my 7-day old daughter. Now unless Pink is the new Black, I'm getting a little nauseated here.
For quite awhile, my friends wondered whether I was born wearing black. Maybe it was the cool urban sensibility. But once upon a time, colorful clothing was the sign of unspeakable naiveté, to be shunned in favor of black by all properly detached critics of society. Besides, black clothing is the unofficial urban uniform of NYC. What else am I going to wear?
Not that I'm going to dress my daughter all in black. I don't want her looking like the illegitimate love child of Dracula and Elvira. But the day I drape my child all in pink is the same day that I cover her in lace frillies and an Amish-style bonnet. (Isn't it great that we can all make so much fun of the Amish because they don't have internet access and therefore will never see this unless someone copies it on a piece of bark? But I digress)
Anyway, the color pink always reminded me of cotton candy. And cotton candy always gave me diarrhea.
What's the deal with pink for girls anyway? How did this all start? Is pink meant to be some sort of gender identification? If my daughter doesn't wear pink, will she grow up to be a lesbian? Because I don't really care. Let her be whatever she wants to be. I want no part in reinforcing gender sterotypes. Nor any other kind of stereotypes. Not in my life and not in my daughter's life.
Will not wearing pink make her less of a girl? Shit...I love nice clothing, days at the spa, romantic comedies, puppies and sunsets. Does that make me less of a man? (Come here and say that to my face, yo!)
Besides, I'm curious to see what Peanut likes when she can make her own choices. Maybe she'll like dinosaurs, Tonka trucks and baseball.
Now...if Peanut grows up and wants to dress like a little Disney princess, then God Bless her little soul. I'll smother her with Barbie dolls and Betty Crocker ovens. I'll paint her room pink and decorate it with dozens of pink mermaids. I'll purchase pink parasols, painted with pink polka-dots.
But of course, I'll have to run a paternity test. I'm sure she'll understand.
Does BossLady not like pink either? I personally can't stand pink and when people asked me what colors I wanted for my girls I told them mint green. Of course you know the grandmas went on a pink frenzy so we still wound up with lots of pink clothes...but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been!
Posted by: Kristie | October 14, 2004 at 09:18 AM
Wow. I nearly choked on my Diet Coke reading the Amish line. I love your blog and I totally agree with you about the gender stereotyping. When I found out I was having a boy I almost didn't tell anyone because I was afraid of getting only blue things with trucks on them. Many of my friends went out of their way to make sure we had some normal clothing, but family came through with all the blue trucks they could find. Sigh.
Posted by: Erika | October 14, 2004 at 09:37 AM
Heh. Actually years ago, pink was the "boy" color because it was believed to have powers to protect male babies from harm. Girl babies had no special color, because no one cared if they died. So think of pink as your daughter usurping power from the boys, it makes it more tolerable.
I'm not a hugely big pink fan myself, never dressed my girls overly in it. My 3YOs favorite color is blue - but her fave color to wear, inexplicably, is pink.
Oh, well. Better than dressing them all "gender neutral", I guess. That shit always reminds me of that Star Trek: TNG episode about the gender neutral planet where they sent the chick to "reconditioning" for having the hots for Riker. Moderation, baby, moderation.
Posted by: Kim Voynar | October 16, 2004 at 09:14 AM
I have always hated pink. Now? Now I prey on unsuspecting parents of girls and buy pink, pink, pink. (I have 4 boys) Actually, truth be told, I go out to buy pink and end up with cute little denim with embroidered flowers, tie-dyed dresses, and boy colored girl clothes. hmmm... guess you're safe from me after all.
Posted by: heidi | October 16, 2004 at 11:58 PM
Just reread that, not sure what "boy colored" is. I should have said blue. Just one of those stereotypes rearing its ugly head. (and my 6 year old just announced his new favorite color is pink.)
Posted by: heidi | October 17, 2004 at 12:00 AM
The combination of pink and black is very cool, if you're into that Elvis/Rockabilly thing.
But after having a boy, dressing Boo Girl in pink was wonderful. Boy clothes are so damn boring, especially all those stripes, dinosaur, fire truck and sports graphics.
I also like leopard and zebra prints for girls - very punk rock.
Posted by: Anne-Marie | October 18, 2004 at 05:32 PM
Yeah, I blogged about this too. I personally don't mind pink so much, but it is oppressive after a while. The best thing about putting your daughter in pink is that she is instantly recognized as a girl and you don't have to explain to strangers that actually, no, it's "she" not "he." Apparently pink is for girls and every other color is for boys.
Posted by: moderndaydad | October 20, 2004 at 02:25 AM
My girls sleep in a BLUE room and wear BLUE! Apparently, they are growing penises as I type this. Wait until they grow into the 9 month onesies with trucks on them. I can just hear the grandmas now. . .
Posted by: Linda | November 04, 2004 at 01:31 PM
Good job, thanks
Posted by: Big Mark | April 19, 2005 at 05:56 AM
UGH! I fucking loathe pink myself. Hot hip-hop artist, shitty color!
Both of my daughters got pink ass, cutesy, nastily offensive outfits. I hate pink, I won't make either daughter wear it, but my oldest loves pink now at age 5.
Posted by: Jason | March 14, 2009 at 07:21 PM