Make it go away!

[Amethyst Hunter]

I'm SO SICK of seeing the color pink plastered everywhere nowadays! Especially when it seems very strongly like it's being directed towards women (there are studies that have proven certain shades of pink have a pacifying effect on the brain; could this be a subtle attempt at indoctrinating women to be submissive?) - there's pink on damn near everything.

I *loathe* this color immensely and have ever since I was a kid (and my God, there wasn't nearly this much pink around when I was a kid!). Pink only belongs on certain things, and only certain shades look halfway decent. The rest of it makes me want to puke.

Please, someone make it go away! (Or at least not be so damned prolific!)

[Sylvia727]

I agree.

I have hated pink since I was about eight years old. All of the presents given by a certain branch of the family were color coded, you see, so I always ended up in some monstrous lacy pink prison, which my mom made me wear a la The Christmas Story. Since at the time I was going through my tomboy stage, this did not go down well. The more I argued, the more folks tried to batter me into liking the color. I usually solved the problems by behaving normally in those ugly dresses. Every little boy in the neighborhood got to see my panties, and I have my mom's word that tree sap is a bitch to get out of lace.

Needless to say, I now despise pink and refuse to be associated with any item of the color. "Adorable" hot pink bedsheets? Became hand-me-downs in the original packaging. "Cute" pastel pink shirt? Exchanged for the same style in lavender. Et cetera, et cetera. My immediate family and friends have accepted this as one of my "ZOMG RABID FEMINIST!!!1!eleventy!!" quirks, and I don't really care what that Victorian-era branch of the family thinks anyway.

The only pink that doesn't make me want to tear my hair out is baby girl clothing. Up until a certain age, all babies are more or less androgynous, so I don't see the harm in color-coding them. A cousin of mine hated the stereotype of little lacy pink doll dresses for her daughter, so she dressed the baby the way she wanted to and put her in a pink stroller. Everyone knew the baby was a girl without my cousin having to be "one of those mothers".

[radiocerk]

I never liked pink either. And I'm so tired of the eyerolling or snide jokes about either being unfeminine or "goth". I like lace and frills just fine, just not in pink.
And that hideous Barbie-whorehouse color that's everywhere these days: EEEWWWW!

[Boozy]

I like pink, as well as reds, oranges, peaches, etc. Those warm shades look very pretty to me. I don't tend to wear them because I find they don't flatter my skin tone.

I can't hate pink just because it's been commandeered by society to represent "girl". It's not pink's fault! It was just minding it's own business, being a colour, and bam! All of a sudden, it's involved in gender politics. I feel sorry for pink.

[IDrinkaRum]

I don't like pink because my mother used to try to dress me in the wrong shades of pink. Pastel pinks don't look good on someone with really white white skin (even though my hair is 2 shades lighter than black - that means it's a very dark brown ).

I like darker pinks, mauves & rose pinks. But nothing else. We didn't know that Kelly was going to be a girl, so we got a lot of the colors that would go with either or (yellow, green, purple). Then Kelly popped out and then there was a plethora of pink everywhere! *runs around screaming* LOL

I normally buy my daughter dark blues, reds, royal purples. I have been known to buy her pink on occasion, but really, it's because I like the style (and I hate to admit it, but she looks gorgeous in pink and any other color I put her in - and I'm not just saying this 'cos I'm her Mama, I've had people chase me down to tell me she's gorgeous. ).

But yes, the pink for everything has got to go! We should write to our congressmen and women. The president! The fashion people. The newspapers. The magazines. Everyone/thing else we can think of.

Whew. This is exhausting. I think I'll make myself another cuppa coffee (which will not be in a pink mug) and make myself some breakfast.

[Cat]

Not a fan of pink either....does not look right on me. Most of the pink I see splattered around lately is for breast cancer awareness....so as long as the proceeds actually go to breast cancer, I'm cool with it. Though I'm not about to don pink any time soon, LOL

[AdminAssistant]

I like pink - it looks good on my pale skin (it's really more about undertones than paleness/tan-ness). My skin has a lot of pink undertones.

I'm with Boozy. It's not the fault of the color. It's the social/cultural perception of the color.

Now the Aerosmith song - I do hate.

[Norton]

I used to really hate anything pink. For 10 years of my life, my room was pink. The older I got, the more I hated that color. My favorite color always was and always will be blue.

Recently, I've lightened up on pink a bit. Sadly, it looks much better on me than anything blue. But, since it looks ok, I'll wear a bit of pink now and then, or let my hair turn pink after dying it red.

What I really hate is how much pink (and red) is in female punk/goth style clothing. Most of the time, the only color choices for the clothes I like are black, black and pink, or black and red. I get tired or plain black. Red is not my color, and not easily matched with my other clothes. Of course, I don't want a dresser full of pink, either. I wish I could find styles I like in colors I like as well.

I often resort to wearing men's clothing just for the different color choices. My new favorite jacket - blue and black striped hoodie - was found in the men's department. The women's department had similiar styles in pink.

[LadyBarbossa]

Pink only belongs on certain things, and only certain shades look halfway decent. The rest of it makes me want to puke.

I'll have to scan an old photo my sister took twenty or so years ago. I was around five years old, wearing the birthday presents she got me. An extremely puffy pink coat, pink overalls, pink socks, pink trimmed sneakers. Oh, and I was standing beside her newly restored 1968 Mustang coupe. The car had just been painted a [sacrasm]lovely[/sarcasm] shade of "Mary Kay" pink. It looked like a giant piece of bubble gum on wheels, though friends and passerby just called it the Pepto Bismol car.

Maybe it's a good thing my sister never had any daughters

Oh and by the way, the car? I bought it from her later (she left it behind when she got married because her husband said he wouldn't tolerate a PINK car in his driveway ) and it has since been given a thorough going-over with several cans of paint stripper.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I like hot pink, and magenta; however, baby and pastel pink can go fly a kite. XD

I don't like the whole "dress the boys in blue and the girls in pink" crap; if I ever reproduced, whatever gender my baby was, it would be dressed in black. XD

[AFPheonix]

Well, it is breast cancer awareness month, so that may have something to do with the pink overload. It's impressive how many products you can get in pink, really.

It's not my favorite color, and it makes me look even more ruddy than I normally do, so I don't wear it. I do like purple, though.
What bums me out is that a lot of the "bling" bridles for horses (they have rhinestones on them. Fun!) that I've found online only came in pink. I was kind of hoping to get one after one of my old work headstalls broke, but I'd rather have one with blue or green or clear stones. Oh well. The geldings probably wouldn't want to be seen wearing rhinestone-studded tack anyways.

[Saydrah]

Yes, all the pink right now probably does have to do with breast cancer awareness.

I personally like very dark, intense pinks when paired with black, but I still don't wear that combination anymore because it looks a little too "Avril" after Hot Topic discovered it and started selling black and pink everything. Bastards jacked my style! Oh, well, I'm over it. Other than that, all the baby pinks and peaches can go pound sand IMO. I do have a great hot pink fabric with skulls on it that I use for lining my female rats' cages (and the blue version for the boys) but this week I changed it up and the boys are on pink-- which I actually am liking better, since the boys are different colors and look nicer on pink. Yes, I do overthink decorating cages with cloth that rats poop on, why do you ask?

Anyway, I don't think pink is an attempt to make women submissive. I think the association of pink with femininity has more to do with women as mothers and caregivers. It probably goes all the way back to early tribal hunter/gatherer societies. In peach-skinned races, the nude female form or a breast-feeding mother would expose pink and cause pink to be associated with womanhood, and in dark-skinned races the association of pink with womanhood would be even stronger since only during sex or childbirth would the pink tissues of the vagina be visible.

Since in the first human cultures matriarchy was the norm due to women's ability to give birth, I imagine the fascination with the color pink's association with women originated in respect and deference, not an attempt to force women into submission. Only after men figured out that they could dominate and abuse women and that their sperm played a role in the babymaking process was patriarchy established, and I imagine pink was probably associated with women before that.

[Bloodsoul]

Best use of pink ever.

[IDrinkaRum]

Up until the 1920's, pink was designated for boys and blue was for girls. Not sure why it changed, but it did. I look better in blue (and so does my daughter).

[MystyGlyttyr]

Man, ya'll would hate hanging around with me. Pink bedroom, pink satin bedspread, pink glittery fur blanket, pink curtains, pink light in my room, fully half of my wardrobe is pink (and moreso every time I buy clothes), and my website(s) is all done up in pinks and purples. I'm hoping to buy a pink laptop and a pink television for my room (if I can find any that don't have Disney Princesses all over them). The only reason my wrestling name wasn't Pink was because it was already taken by the singer.

Pink is sort of my signature color. Everything I can get in pink, I get. That's just me, though. I went through the anti-pink phase myself when I was younger, just to be anti-girly. Now that I'm older and like to be a study in contradictions, being and looking more feminine is half the fun