What is wrong with pink?

[strawberriesandmelon]

Of course, I know what is wrong with pink-itis... but how do I explain it to my 4 year old? Needless to say, all girls in her nursery wear almost exclusively pink and all toys in the girls section are pink. I don't want to be authoritarian and just ban the pink, so I thought it would be a good idea to explain to her, in a way she could understand, what is wrong with it. Any suggestions?

Kris - tell you what, you go away and have a think about all the different ways lesbians can have children together (we've done it two different ways!) then come back. If you get it right there's a prize

it is annoying as there is very little choice other than pink for girls. i love green and grey but its almost impossible to find.

Just t6ell you dont think it's a very nice colour.

But you can't make a colour the villain of the piece, ABF- that makes no sense. There is nothing inherently wrong with pink, and I think it weakens the argument to suggest that there is.

I'm not saying to make it like a villain. But when her DD says "ooh can I have it in pink please mummy?" just say "I think the other colour is much nicer than the pink one"

Her DD is nursery age she doesnt want nor would she benefit from a full explaination of why her mother doesnt like the connections made with the colour pink.
If the OP feels so strongly about her DD wearing so much pink or yammering on for the pink versions of toys then the best way to do it is paint the idea of a different colour being nicer.

Or fuschia maybe?

"Her DD is nursery age she doesnt want nor would she benefit from a full explaination of why her mother doesnt like the connections made with the colour pink."

This I agree with wholeheartedly- but I think her mother is wrong; rather than looking for ways to appropriately dissuade her DD from choosing pink, I think we should let her choose it and work on changing what it signifies IYSWIM.

Who made them want to buy the pink sparkly things, though, Jiro? It's not hard-wired into the female psyche. The "everything pink and sparkly" cultural expectation is a very recent one (I'd guess around 25 years or so). It's a view that has been insidiously forced on children, and I entirely agree with you that that's wrong. Exploring with your children that the views that have been forced on them by other people might not be entirely justified, however, seems quite reasonable.

Ahh I see we are in agreement then tethers I have no issue with the colour pink either and hate that it has been made "for girls only" I was just offering a suggestion to the OP on how to calm down the pink addiction.

I never taught my dd to like pink (tbh pink wasn't ever my favourite colour, I liked orange and yellow as a kid). Still my dd was drawn so much to the colour pink since the beginning and wants something pink, even cats that are pink! She can only have pink cuddly toy animals.

It must be the candy shade? I have this condition (not sure if DD has it too) that I can add colours with a flavour.

You didn't, FloweryRune, but that doesn't mean that no one did. Pregnant women are asked "pink or blue"? People buy pink or blue clothing as gifts for a newborn baby. Babies who aren't wearing pink are assumed to be boys. Boy babies are never dressed in pink. If a product's packaging shows girls playing with or using something, nine times out of ten it will be pink. Children very very quckly pick up the "pink is for girls, and girls like pink" message without their parents ever having to sit down and teach it to them. Because that pressure wasn't around (or not to nearly the same degree) when we were children, it's easy to miss it and assume that our daughters "just arrive at" a favourite colour the same way that we did, and that it's just some bizarre statistical blip that so many of them come up with pink, rather than a carefully planned marketing message.

Really chaps?! Haven't you got more pressing matters to attend to? Like making premature travel arrangments for the semi-final?!

You have been ratted, naughty boys! Now go away and play nicely!

Hello

Can I just say how very much I admire the esteemed MNers on this thread?

For reasons that I hope will be obvious

MNHQ xx

blimey, this is a contentious thread

Oooh where were they all from then? Do MNHQ know?

What about the sterling work on the other thread about all the nasty female abusers? Where did that go btw, I wanted to tell everyone about the amaaaaazing chocolate cheesecake that I had at lunchtime?

I love the fact that due to the good behaviour of genuine posters the deletions make no difference to reading the thread , if still flows perfectly.

grow up its a feckin colour
if you want to be a pain whats the 'problem' with putting boys in blue

Ahem.

It's called gender stereotyping somewheresomehow , you know men thinking they need to thump their chests, women feeling under pressure to inflate theirs. All starts at an early age.......

Anyway......My dd is three and she is in her 'pink phase'. One day she was happy to be in trousers and dresses of all colours and shade, have an interest in dinosaurs ( even had the duvet cover and loved it ! ) , the next seemingly it's all bloody princesses and pink.

All coincided with starting nursery pretty much and the odd Disney film that slipped through the net.

I just try and offer up alternates and remind her ( show her ) that there are many other colours. Also that princesses are pretty dull in their activities.

She now likes pink and purple so that's something I guess.