Girls and pathological desire for PINK STUFF

[FlossieTCake]

(Sorry if this doesn't technically count as news - it was in the newspaper but a features section.)

The tyranny of pink, according to the Grauniad, is all because "pink sells".

Anyone else out there with daughters found this as annoying as I did?

I have to say, recently i haven't had a problem finding non-pink clothes for older girls. By older i mean over a year old. And i was going to say isn't Gap expensive but since we haven't got a branch, i wouldn't know, lol.

Godzilla, where do you shop that does non-pink for over-1s?

Baby Gap no great loss. They have good sales but buying full-price is for mugs. Sadly there is a branch of Baby Gap in between the station and the office and sometimes on the days I am walking rather than cycling my willpower proves insufficient....

I shop at so many places, i just pick a few bits from each place! Plus i do think DD3 suits pink so she has a few items of it...will i get flamed for unethical shopping if i say Primark? And Tesco, Asda (they have lots of beautiful RED in atm, although DD3 hasn't the red hair to go with!). And Adams/Sainsbury's has usually got a some other colours in...you just need to look around. I start shopping for the next size several months in advance!

My DS1 (aged 4) quite likes pink. Not to the extent of wanting to wear it though. The other dsy he asked me "Mummy, why do girls like pink so much?". I shall read the article and that will give me my answer.

having a boy first means no pink hand-me-downs. HOORAY!

Maybe it's the shade of red that makes the difference: my DD doesn't really seem to suit it. She had a gorgeous red woolly jumper handed down from DS2 (sadly since lost at nursery), but it clashed horribly. Although - now I've typed that, I remember she had a lovely red velvet dress (H&M again) that my mum's Kleeneze lady gave her and that did look nice. She was very attached to it too and insisted on wearing it well beyond the point at which it had become comically short on her.

I like the idea of bottle green but most stuff that comes in that colour seems to be quite gendered in the male direction. Either that or I'm being too narrow-minded.

sorry veering a bit off-topic there.

My dd loves pink and purple. My niece isn't so keen but then her parents brought her up to dress and act more like a boy .

I'm more partial to orange and green myself but not together .

I am utterly anti-pink- maybe because of my 70s feminist upbringing?

The only stuff dd (2.2) has that is pink are things that have been bought for her- and actually I don't put them on her, but ebay them

The bit about the author's daughter nurturing and cuddling the sticks made me laugh, because even though I have resisted so far giving my dd a baby doll (it's put away in a cupboard, where I'm trying to forget it exists!) she cares for or nurtures anything eg knitted humptydumpty, toy mobile phone and 'changes their nappies'! (yeah- even the 'phone!)
Toywise, she has a wooden trainset, farm & animals, Duplo, jigsaws, football, wheelybug etc etc. All pretty unisex or boyish. She has got a umbrella type dolly buggy, which is pink, but there weren't any other colours, and she made her own 'vacuum cleaner' out of the inner tube to wrapping paper at christmas!
She also likes to 'iron' using her little table, a pram blanket, and a wooden toy seal

She is quite girly! We have never encouraged any of this- she just likes to do things Mama and Papa do! (me vac- him iron)

I get her clothes from ebay- mostly Gymboree, Gap (when I'm flush, or ignoring exploited children ), vertbaudet, H&M. I have noticed N*xt have had a few ranges in red/navy and rainbow colours recently (ie last 2 seasons) but can't really bring myself to deck her in logos....

My favourite colour is blue- and everything I had as a child had to be blue .
Dd is blonde, with mid-blue eyes, and she looks stunning in blue.
She also really suits red. Pink just looks insipid with her colouring. I own about 1 pink shirt myself.

What makes me sad is the 'princessfication' of girls' lives- everything seems to be princess this, fairy that.
It is so disturbing.
Dd's cousin was raised very much mummy's little princess- at 7 she refused to go to school unless she had her mascara on! I kid you not- and not children's make-up either!
Now, at 18, she is a very emotionally and psychologically damaged young lady. She has an eating disorder, and is depressed, primarily due to the realisation that her life is so shallow. She has no substance, and has been taught to believe her looks and 'sunniness' are what she needs to rely on to get through life.
I want my daughter to be able to think for herself, and I certainly don't want her to judge people by their looks.

Btw- the main donors of pinkness into dd's life are BIL & his DW, who probably think the way I dress DD and encourage her play is a scandal! We asked for duplo for christmas for her (as they didn't know what to get her...read didn't want to upset me) so it duly arrived (to Dd's delight) along with a pink cashmere handwash pullover (tank top)- hello? for a 2 year old ...

Don't even get me started on books.... have you been in waterstones' childrens section recently? rainbow fairy...

I can't think when I last BOUGHT new clothes, I survive on hand-me-downs

And from that I can confirm that the prevailing colour is PINK

FlossieTCake, Mothercare has (or had) some lovly thing based on sage green with white polka dots whihc would look fab on a redhead - can onl yfind this online but they had dresses, coats etc in store.
I eyed them up for dd but she is too pale fo rthem...

Miggsie - in answer to this question: "I agree about pink, it trivialises anything it adorns, anyone think of a national flag with pink in it? Any ruling body seat of parliament in a county decorated pink? Any decision making or powerhouse in the world decorated pink?"

The Casa Rosada in Argentina

Maybe Hillary will do the same with the White House!

So the pink plague isn't my imagination. Between having dd1 in 1987 and dd2 in 1996 pink seemed to appear everywhere. I had wondered if it had always been there but I hadn't noticed previously due to only having boys! But this article confirms my suspicions that pink has come to the fore as women have gradually gained equality with men. I also think the fact many people now know the sex of their baby before birth has contributed to the rise and rise of pink. When I had my first babies in the 70's newborn clothing was mainly white, yellow or maybe green.

I do actually like pink, probably as a reaction against constantly being told as a red-haired child that I couldn't possibly wear pink. My mum was always being told she should dress me in green but she refused to, so my childhood choice of colour was pretty much limited to blue (which I don't like) or yellow, still one of my favourite colours.

I think lots of girls grow out of Pink at around 7. my dd (8) refuses to wear pink now and prefers aqua, green and jeans. (although she does like sparkly detail still)

When I was a child in he 70s, we never wore pink. In fact, I wore my first ever pink jumper at age '18' - it was the 80s and bright colours were 'in'. I'm afraid, typical 'english rose' colouring does not suit pink, or any pastels for that matter.

Dd2 still wears pink but prefers a darker purpley shade. And she refuses to wear anything 'pretty' now.

I also do not like pink for girls or dolls because of the stereotyping and as dd has an older brother she had none of either. However, every time we went into a shop she picked up the dolls and wheeled them around in buggies and cried when we had to leave them. She also stroked pink clothes in shops and would stand looking at them almost drooling.

I also decorated her bedroom in yellow and she never really seemed to have any attachment to it. However, when I finally gave in and painted the picture frames pink and bought a pink duvet, she was in seventh heaven.

I don't know where this comes from and have certainly never encouraged it or "groomed" her to like it. I dislike pink, frills and dolls and outside of dd's bedroom there is nothing pink or girly in my house.

HATE PINK!!!! DD is not going to get a say.... we don't mind the odd smidgem ehre and there, but on the whole, anything else will be better. She doesn't suit pink anyway. Haven't read the article yet, will do when I have 5 minutes.

Where I live in Africa pink doesn't have the same connotations as in the UK. Men wear bright pink jackets and footwear without a second thought. Someone on MN has linked to articles which says that pink only became fashionable for girls after one of the World Wars, previously it was a boys colour.

EachPeach, the books are truly scary: I notice the fairies rather than the princesses myself. Not just for littlies but for the slightly bigger ones - all this Felicity Wishes business.

Friend of mine recently got very cross about the remake of Ballet Shoes that was on over Christmas - the way it airbrushed out the strong thread in the book of the girls working incredibly hard and it not just being about floating about looking wistful.

DD loves pink. Light pink - she's just been admiring pink tropical fish at the fish centre down the road. I didn't like pink as a child, but I've ended up with a pink and sparkly girly little girl. Meanwhile my cousin, who was a far more feminine child than me, has a daughter who HATES pink. She was delighted a couple of years ago when Next had a double page spread of green/yellow for girls in the directory, I think she bought the whole lot.

Mind you, DD is currently wearing a navy blue dress and purple tights (with red/yellow flowers on, they're nice, honest).

Liking pink, for very small girls, is not necessarily about the colour etc. but about them developing a sense of identity. Pink is just one signifier of that development.

DD is 2 and for several months has talked about pink, picked out pink things and claimed it's her fav. colour. We have not consciously encouraged this. I'm just constantly amazed at what she picks up on and 'm so enchanted by it, I'm not going to discourage the pink thing yetr.

Could I just ask a question?

Those of you who have daughters who do NOT like pink.... do they have any access to TV or internet at all?

Ditto for those whose daughters DO like pink?

I'm just wondering whether the 'osmosis' is from things they see/experience, or whether it just happens?

I am living in a house besieged by pinkness. I have 2 tubs on neapolitan icecream in my freezer where the vanilla and chocolate stripes are completely intact.

To be quite honest I am just too tired to give a rats arse about what their favourite colour is. I'll worry about it some other day.....maybe if they are still wearing pink butterfly princess outfits under their graduation gowns.