To think the anti-pink brigade can be a bit OTT

[NeedACleverNN]

I have noticed on here there are some people who refuse to allow their girls wear anything pink/sparkly/overly feminine. A lot of the reasoning seems to be because it sets women back 100 years etc etc and gender neutral stuff.

However the same people are eager to point out they don't care if their son wears it and in fact actively encourage them to do so.

AIBU to think pink is just a colour and if girls want to enjoy pink and princesses and babies and pushchairs they should be able to just as much as a boy can?

[NeedACleverNN]

See the let toys be toys campaign makes sense!

Don't get me wrong Dd has a pink princess castle that she loves playing with but ds loves it just as much. To both of them it's just a toy.

Same to the cars.

Most of the books are just that. Books. apart from the bedtime stories for girls that SIL bought that is shit

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

It was started as a reaction to the extreme pinkification of girls

At the time I think the name was entirely justified

Really? I thought it was supposed to be against gender stereotyping for both sexes. So why pick only on the girly stuff?

[DinosaursRoar]

DD has pink dinosaur PJs from Sainsburys. I wish they made them in bigger sizes as I want some

[TheDowagerCuntess]

I'm a feminist and it actually really pisses me off. It's gone too much the other way now.

Genuine question, but how has it gone too far...?

[oobedobe]

In the 7 years since I had DD1 I have seen pink take over girls clothes, toys, accessories etc. I was never keen on the OTT pink everything, but happy for both DD's to wear pink if the outfit was nice. I did enjoy finding clothing in other colours I found Zara was good for this.

Now I often see baby girls, in a PINK carseat, with a PINK blanket on, playing with PINK toys, wearing PINK from head-to-toe, with a PINK dummy in etc - I find that OTT and bizarre, like they are worried someone might not realize she was a girl .

I like pink as a colour, but it is just so restrictive to offer so many things in just one colour, boys clothes are just a bad, often dull and the same colours over and over.

I am pleased that Next has some funky dinosaur prints on their girls clothes this summer and not just cute, pink ones!

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Itinerary and merrymouse - I was not allowed any pink stuff, growing up. Mum never stated 'No pink' - but we knew it was not allowed, and frankly didn't dare argue with mum about anything.

[Flumplet]

I agree that it's gone a bit over the top. I consider myself to be an intelligent, forward thinking woman but I really like pink and I wear it a lot. It's my favourite colour. If it has sparkles for a special occasion then so much the better

[HeadTilt]

I've never met anyone who has banned pink, or who thinks pink, glitter or dolls are terrible. I consider myself a feminist and expect most of my friends have similar values. My 4yo DD likes a lot of "girly" stuff eg the pink Disney Princess sunglasses she got today.

What a lot of people, including me, don't like is the expectation that girls should only want pink glittery stuff, and boys shouldn't.

For example for my DD's 4th birthday party party bags I got a selection of stuff that I thought all the kids there would enjoy to least some of. This included Frozen stickers, gliders, a Spiderman magic cloth, some craft bits. The party was at soft play and we had an allocated helper. Who took it upon herself to divide up the bags into girls' and boys'. Spiderman and gliders were removed from the girls' and the stickers and crafty stuff was removed from the boys'. She the helpfully presented me with a carrier bag full of the "extras". She looked at me like I was deranged when I said all the stuff was for all the kids. I felt like I was speaking an alien language. I started reassembling stuff and she just said "but it's spiderman' like I was giving all the girls jockstraps, and the boys tampons, or something.

Of course my extremist position would make me part of the "anti pink" brigade. It's really just about giving kids the choice to like whatever they like.

[RupertPupkin]

Lass of course. It was meant to be ironic.

And they're "picking on the girly stuff" because the "girly" sterotyping has shown to be harmful. Affecting career choices and performance at school. That doesn't happen with boys as much.

[Xmasbaby11]

Yanbu ... but I don't know anyone who thinks that way tbh. I have 2 dds and they have a lot of pink but many other colours too - lots of pastels and patterns. I think it probably depends how you wear clothes too. Today dd (who is 4) is wearing a pink butterfly t shirt with a pink checked skirt, blue leggings, trainers, short curly blonde hair. I think she looks girly but also like a tomboy.

[Spandexpants007]

Don't mind a bit of pink. HATE lots of pink. Non of my boys/girls are particularly keen either.

[coffeeisnectar]

I must admit that for a few years I struggled to find a winter coat for DD2 that wasn't bright pink. Eventually I found one in silver which was lovely but her gran was most put out that I didn't want to put her in yet another identical pink coat.

When DD1 was little (she's nearly 18) I mainly dressed her in bright colours and she did wear pink but not much as she had red hair which clashed awfully. I'd say she's a typical girly girl, into make up and hair and doing her nails etc yet she's off to uni to study paramedic science and then another year doing trauma. Wearing pink and painting her nails hasn't stunted her brain growth!

DD2 is a rather strange mix. She likes delicate things like shiny stones and little glittery type baubles but today chose spiderman socks (to go with the light, duvet set and pjs) as well as leggings with giraffes on when we were in Tesco. She's 10. She's pretty obsessed with red clothing at the moment or black. She refuses to wear anything pink because that's too much like a flower colour which means bees will land on her. And she doesn't like bees.

[Spandexpants007]

We all adore sparkles though

[HackerFucker22]

Once you become anti something like this you begin to make it an issue. It's really no big deal until you make it so.

I don't care what kids wear although I like to see them dress for the weather

I went pink mad when I found put DC2 was a girl and as she got older I realised I hate pink. She is 14m now and barring a few vest and pairs of pj's she has nothing pink.

When she is old enough to have a say in her clothes then she can pick what she likes. DC1 is a boy and lives in tracksuit bottoms and tops - he is 3 so at an age where comfort and freedom of movement is most important. He doesn't care much for picking his own clothes yet and I certainly won't be pushing him towards the the pink glittery tutus just to make a "look how enlightened I am" show!!

[Pinkheart5915]

I agree it is ott.
I wore loads of pink as a little girl, in fact I still do I Love PINK! and it didn't set me back 100 years like some of the reasons for no pink, I am a strong , independent woman.

I have a ds and I am currently expecting a baby girl and most of her baby clothes are pink, her nursery is pale pink. I will put my girl in pink but if as she gets older she doesn't want to wear it then I will let her wear any colour she wants

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Because stereotyping females harms everyone and it was the girls who were being targeted with the pink tsunami

And blue for boys is just fine ?.

Lass of course. It was meant to be ironic. 

And they're "picking on the girly stuff" because the "girly" sterotyping has shown to be harmful. Affecting career choices and performance at school. That doesn't happen with boys as much

Oh please. All it does is send out negative signals about things perceived to be for girls. Who needs the fabled patriarchy to put women and girls when there are campaigns like this to do it.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

I find it really insulting to be told my preference for girly and feminine things has affected my career choice and held me back given what my career choice is, where I am in it and current earnings. Credit women and girls with a bit of intelligence.

[Sagethyme]

Personally i would like gender neutral clothes, ie red, green, yellow orange. But thats is because A) a love bright funky clothing and B) i have a DD and Ds and i'd prefer them get longer usage out of clothing.
They both play with dolls and trainsets, they both dress up sometimes as princesses, sometimes as Robin hood or pirates. They both lovely archery and fencing as well as ballet.
I discourage DD from wearing dresses when we are at home as they are not practical, but otherwise they can both be as sparkely or mellow as they wish!
I have yet too meet any anti pink parents!

[IfNotNowThenWhenever]

I agree with Mrs D.
I don't know anyone at all who bans pink for their girls. In fact, how would that even be possible? Since almost every item made for girls IS pink.
It isn't about a colour in itself, or not thinking girls should want to look pretty. It is about, from birth, telling children exactly what their role in life is. You're a boy, you can be a pirate, you're a girl, you can be a princess.
And the subtext of all this sex division, is that boys do and girls are.
Boys are active, and interested in things in the world, girls are interested in looking pretty.
I like pink. My bathroom is pink, my phone is pink, but I grew up at a time when I wore my brothers hand me downs and nobody batted an eye, because kids clothes were kids clothes, whereas nowadays if you dress a girl in anything other than pink or purple you are seen as "making a statement", which is insane.
And YY about trying to buy a mothers day card that isn't pink. It's all so sickly and patronising.

[mollie123]

when I was young many many years ago pink would just be another colour reserved for party dresses and the like
what I really dislike is that pink has become the favoured colour for all women regardless of colouring, age or inclination
as someone mentioned upthread - Mothers day cards often have a pink hue and don't get me started on pink cars, pink steering wheel covers, pink gardening gloves pink kitchen implements, pink gardening trowels and dibbers, not to mention labours election pink bus.
it has gone too far - let pink be just a colour along with all the others rather than a gender indication

[paxillin]

I found fighting pink tooth and nail was the only way. This way, 50% of all toys and clothes given as presents were pink princessy sparkly bunny fairy shit. Otherwise, it would have been 90%. It worked. Our world didn't turn entirely pink.

The girls' toys or clothes aisle in many stores are so pink and lilac they look like a black and white image with a photo-shopped-in pink layer.

[mollie123]

yes I forgot the pink phones and the pink covers for your kindle - is there a market for pink computer mouse and keyboard!

[Narp]

As an aside, there's an anti-pink brigade?

When I was a lass, there were only the Boys' Brigade and the Girls' Brigade.

There seem to be brigades for everything now