Pink revolution
Fascinating article from Smithsonian on how colors "appropriate" for boys and girls shifted dramatically in the middle of the 20th century. In fact, pink used to be a boy's color and blue a girl's. It wasn't until a bevy of demographic, biotech and consumption changes coalesced in the middle of the 20th century that these roles assumed their modern American places.
For example, a Ladies’ Home Journal article in June 1918 said, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” Other sources said blue was flattering for blonds, pink for brunettes; or blue was for blue-eyed babies, pink for brown-eyed babies, according to Paoletti.
In 1927, Time magazine printed a chart showing sex-appropriate colors for girls and boys according to leading U.S. stores. In Boston, Filene’s told parents to dress boys in pink. So did Best & Co. in New York City, Halle’s in Cleveland and Marshall Field in Chicago. Today’s color dictate wasn’t established until the 1940s, as a result of Americans’ preferences as interpreted by manufacturers and retailers.
The reason for such a dramatic and diametric shift were multi-fold but a primary driver was the women's liberation movement in the 60s, which drove the trend for some women to adopt the traditionally boyish color of pink (as well as neutrals). But the tipping point didn't really happen until a biotech innovation coupled with the rise in consumerism in the US:
Prenatal testing was a big reason for the change. Expectant parents learned the sex of their unborn baby and then went shopping for “girl” or “boy” merchandise. (“The more you individualize clothing, the more you can sell,” Paoletti says.) The pink fad spread from sleepers and crib sheets to big-ticket items such as strollers, car seats and riding toys. Affluent parents could conceivably decorate for baby No. 1, a girl, and start all over when the next child was a boy.
Read the full article here
via kottke
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