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?

Why don't you just buy strawberry ice-cream?

We always had Neapolitan when we were kids but it worked out well because DB1 only ate strawberry, DB2 only ate chocolate and I only ate vanilla.

Funny that their sense of taste should be so influenced by their sight.

Oh I know otherside, I did relent and buy proper strawberry yesterday (which they promptly turned their noses up at as it had lumps of proper strawberry in, and tasted of strawberry rather than the rather peculiar flavour the pink stripe in neapolitan tastes of.

I would be hoovering up the brown and yellow stripes but I'm working my way through easter eggs atm.

In answer to EachPeachPearMum's question: DD is 3 and loves pink and purple and flowery things. She doesn't have much pink stuff but will usually the 'girly' things if they are clean. Although she is going through a pockets phase at the moment so favours her denim pinafore dress with pockets over her navy pinafore dress with flowers embroidered on.

She watches DVDs but rarely sees TV or anything on the internet other than PoissonRouge.

usually choose

my DD1 is 11yrs, watches TV and goes on internet, has her own preference for NOT pink but if given , say, pink pyjamas by mil will wear them no probs. When choosing own outfit not long ago (she is starting to want to go clothese shopping) she opted for a BLACK cotton top and a new pair of jeans.

She has always hated dolls (was given first one at 11 months, never touched it)
she is currently watching a program about Tigers on BBC1, meanwhile her 2 girly younger sisters are playing polly pocket and generaly being very pink!!

All three have been brought up pretty much the same (i hope). My point is, it can be largely NATURE as well as nurture..

but i do agree that this pink fairy princess twaddle is NOT something we should nurture!

my dd (4) only got into pink in a big way when she started school. in fact there have been a lot of changes since she started school - lots of crying and whining. is this due to school or a hormone surge - anyone know cos i'ts driving me mad!

Evening girls, my DD, now 8 decided for the first time ever not to wear a frock to the school disco...... boo hoo

shouldhavebeenblonde your DD is probably still settling in and is just tired/hungry and tired, or all of the above. Dont forget you have two others and there is only one of you.

it's just the way that she's changed from being a tough little cookie to being a weeper and wailer which i find weird

I thought the Guardian article was rather exaggerated, yes there's lots of pink around but we have 3 small girls and our house is not at all drowning in pink. And I do let the dds have a fair amount of choice on their clothes and toys.

EachPeachPearMum, I have 3 girls and only one likes pink. 3yo dd3 likes pink and fairy stuff, but we hope/assume she'll grow out of it soon.

8yo dd1 has never liked pink or princesses or dolls or girly things - she does have access to TV and internet, but she's never liked those things. She'd rather pretend to be a tiger or a spy or a pirate.

My 6yo dd2 doesn't like pink very much either, she did quite like it at 4 or 5 but got bored with it.

EachPeach, re TV and internet: DD (as I say, not a major pink fan) is only 2 so this is not a big issue - yet. Her big brothers spend most of their time on Thumb Wrestling Federation, and mainly watch Star Wars or Scooby Doo. We don't have digital or cable, and they never watch ITV or C4 so aren't really exposed to much in the way of advertising.

Given the choice, DD would plump for Charlie and Lola any day (for a little while, "Charlola?" was the second thing she said - in a hopeful tone - when waking up in the morning, after "hello mummy", phew I haven't yet lost my place in the sun to the electronic babysitter...). And at least there the pink is quite moderate (mainly the milk).

She is showing a worrying fondness for Upsy Daisy at the moment though. Took her beanie Upsy Daisy to church with her this morning in the shocking pink felt handbag in which her Easter egg from MIL came. And here I was trying to claim she wasn't a pink princess.

It's peer reaction IME eachpeach, so unless you also home ed your daughter she will mix with children who are seeing it all on the telly and also influenced by big sisters.
Dd liked "parple" best until she started school.
Now she likes sparkly fripperies and the colour pink, but luckily does not insist on wearing it much. Plenty of turquoise, red, gold, brown and blue here, thankfully
As others have said, M & S this season has loads of non-pink stuff - and the French are less obsessed by the colour too.

EachPeach - funnily enough DD has no access to TV and only really uses the Fisher Price interactive site on the internet.

Callisto - my dd has no TV either, and I did wonder if this made a difference to their preferences at all, but 1 example is not much to go on

I asked her yesterday what her favourite colour was, and she said Green, followed by orange and yellow (nice!!).

I do wonder about when she starts school though Marina as it is highly unlikely we will home educate.

She goes to a nursery at present, but they are grouped by age, so the ony peer influence is from children quite close to her in age. They don't tend to wander round spouting about their favourite colour! Now there favourite toy is another matter

EachPeach - my 10 year old girls aren't fussed about pink. One actively avoided it until two years ago, refusing to wear anything pink, except detailing on other coloured items...
We've always had a TV, but we only have one (that can receive normal telly - they have a dvd player in their room, but hardly use it) so whatever they are watching has to be bearable to dh and i too! They have also always been taught that being different is good - don't be afraid to dress differently than others.

Oh, a bit late but she dosn't onky say it's cos it sells, she says it's instinctual "But retailers exploit these instincts for profit."

Well yes - what else are they supposed to exploit for profit though? There are far worse things to exploit than a propensity to pink!

Dear me

I'd like a bit of choice, myself. The homogenisation of society on the basis of what "sells" is infuriating.

Yoyu don't think you have choice?

Really?

I like the pink stage

actively encourage it in dd3

IME (3 dds) it is most rampant from 2-4 years then tends to go away

dd1 (8) fave colour: blue
dd2 (5) fave colour: yellow

Agree that "princessification" of girls' lives is disturbing, but this is down to the way in which they are exposed to and influenced by the marketeers. I get particulalry annoyed when I see toddlers with painted nails and some of the clothes available - especially at the cheaper end of the market - are quite frankly trashy. It would be interesting to know to know to what extent it is the children themselves making the choices - after all, toddlers do not paint their own nails, do they??