why is pink feminine?

[careful]

some species of male ducks are a different color than females, that's an innate genetic trait (though its evolutionary development may have relied on arbitrary outcomes to be established)
but for humans there is no such analogous relationship between sex and color that has genetic roots.The association between femininity and pink was totally arbitrary from the beginning of its inception, but why is it so? Will Lady Gaga change this fact?

 

[The Procrastinated End]

Assigning color to gender is mostly a 20th century trait.

At one point pink was considered more of a boy's color, (as a watered-down red, which is a fierce color) and blue was more for girls. The associate of pink with bold, dramatic red clearly affected its use for boys. An American newspaper in 1914 advised mothers, "If you like the color note on the little one's garments, use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention." [The Sunday Sentinal, March 29, 1914.]

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. 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." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918] http://histclo.hispeed.com/gender/color.html - "Gender Specific Colors"

Didn't read it but usually Long answer=Right answer. So what this guy said.
Edit: And maybe because pink is a lighter red and red is a boys color?

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Didn't read it but usually Long answer=Right answer. So what this guy said.

It didn't actually give an answer. He said that pink was a masculine color in the early nineteen-hundreds.

Of course, the point being that there is no real reason.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

Well lately, I don't think that's true, as there have been plenty of guys rocking the pink color. In fact, I rarely see females wear pink anymore.

 

[Giest4life]

One of the things that are "just is." All Some things have no basis in rationality. Just as purple was ordained the colour of royalty in Ancient Rome, so is the colour pink reserved for our lady friends.

EDIT: Fuck you Google Chrome, it IS spelled as "colour."

 

[Sacman]

Men are supposed to be tough and threatening...
tell me do these look threatening to you?

 

[lacktheknack]

Will Lady Gaga change this fact?

Change what? That bubble clothing is for either gender?

At any rate, it's because it's a light color, and the public eye views "manly" colors to be darker then female colors.

 

[Ericb]

Men are supposed to be tough and threatening...
tell me do these look threatening to you?

If that girl's gun actually fires a shot, I'll ignore the pink right away.

 

[infinity_turtles]

Originally, pink being similar to red, an aggressive color, meant it was usually associated with boys. With the rise of home video that changed. Because of the porn industry's habit of referring to vaginas as pink bits. And now you know.

 

[unoleian]

One of the things that are "just is." All Some things have no basis in rationality. Just as purple was ordained the colour of royalty in Ancient Rome, so is the colour pink reserved for our lady friends.

EDIT: Fuck you Google Chrome, it IS spelled as "colour."

Actually, there's a reason why purple was the color of royalty. The pigment that made that deep, rich purple color ("Royal" Purple, or "Tyrian" purple) could only be extracted in small quantities from a specific type of mollusk. Therefore, it was very rare, very expensive, and only the wealthiest (aka royalty and high nobility) could afford it.

 

[manythings]

Assigning color to gender is mostly a 20th century trait.

At one point pink was considered more of a boy's color, (as a watered-down red, which is a fierce color) and blue was more for girls. The associate of pink with bold, dramatic red clearly affected its use for boys. An American newspaper in 1914 advised mothers, "If you like the color note on the little one's garments, use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention." [The Sunday Sentinal, March 29, 1914.]

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. 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." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918] http://histclo.hispeed.com/gender/color.html - "Gender Specific Colors"

Didn't read it but usually Long answer=Right answer. So what this guy said.
Edit: And maybe because pink is a lighter red and red is a boys color?

Do you watch QI?

So my understanding of it is the "pink for girls, blue for boys" thing started in hospitals. Simple colour coding that just carried on into the everyday.

One of the things that are "just is." All Some things have no basis in rationality. Just as purple was ordained the colour of royalty in Ancient Rome, so is the colour pink reserved for our lady friends.

EDIT: Fuck you Google Chrome, it IS spelled as "colour."

Actually, there's a reason why purple was the color of royalty. The pigment that made that deep, rich purple color ("Royal" Purple, or "Tyrian" purple) could only be extracted in small quantities from a specific type of mollusk. Therefore, it was very rare, very expensive, and only the wealthiest (aka royalty and high nobility) could afford it.

I'm pretty sure "True Purple", or whatever it is called, can only be made by a handful of people today. Purples typically don't occur in nature that can be extracted.

 

[Giest4life]

One of the things that are "just is." All Some things have no basis in rationality. Just as purple was ordained the colour of royalty in Ancient Rome, so is the colour pink reserved for our lady friends.

EDIT: Fuck you Google Chrome, it IS spelled as "colour."

Actually, there's a reason why purple was the color of royalty. The pigment that made that deep, rich purple color ("Royal" Purple, or "Tyrian" purple) could only be extracted in small quantities from a specific type of mollusk. Therefore, it was very rare, very expensive, and only the wealthiest (aka royalty and high nobility) could afford it.

Yes, that's "true," but, there were many a wealth people that could afford the purple dye, but because the royalty wanted to uphold a status symbol, they banned it for anyone other than themselves. Plus, I'm pretty sure there were many other dyes that would have been just as expensive, but purple was still arbitrarily picked as the colour of choice. Rarity, and monetary value are just the specious reasons for that choice.

But then again, "my happiness ought to be the justification of itself."

 

[knhirt]

Pink is a good colour for socks, shirts and ties on men.
I see more men wearing pink in such a way (especially shirts) than I see women wearing pink in general, these days.

 

[octafish]

One of the things that are "just is." All Some things have no basis in rationality. Just as purple was ordained the colour of royalty in Ancient Rome, so is the colour pink reserved for our lady friends.

EDIT: Fuck you Google Chrome, it IS spelled as "colour."

Wasn't there something to do with how difficult purple dye is to make? Something to do with crushing welks? That might be an english tradition though because I'm making a mental bridge between crushing and fermenting seacreatures for purple dye and Tony Robinson.

OT: No reason at all.

Edit: Damn Textile Ninjas!

 

[Thedayrecker]

One of the things that are "just is." All Some things have no basis in rationality. Just as purple was ordained the colour of royalty in Ancient Rome, so is the colour pink reserved for our lady friends.

EDIT: Fuck you Google Chrome, it IS spelled as "colour."

Purple was considered the color of royalty because purple dye was expensive. The carthaginians had the purple market cornered with their snails.... Why was I here? Oh yeah

OT: I think it's a cultural thing. In the future pink might be the manliest color know to man. Or maybe there's some past civilization that took over the known world in the name of the color pink.

It isn't so girly now, is it?

EDIT: I see that the purple question has been answered quite extensivly.... damn ninjas.

 

[Nomanslander]

I don't know, why is black affiliated with being a goth or cool.

Red with violence, and yellow with being a coward?

Then again when you put red next to yellow people start to get hungry...??

Personally, I get hungry when I see pink, if you know what I mean...;P

 

[Tyrannowalefish_Rex]

It's flowery and mild and tender. Feminine ideals in western culture for several centuries. [Edit: ok perhaps that's wrong]

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

Personally, I get hungry when I see pink, if you know what I mean...;P

http://www.hiyoooo.com/

OT: Here's an interesting theory.

Back in the 1800s, the idea of color therapy was put forward, possibly by the same doctors who advocated bleeding and the use of leeches. Color therapists thought that patients who bathed in a certain color of light could heal physical and psychological ailments. Color therapy died when antibiotics came out and most people realized that the idea of being healed by colored light was just bunk.

It is this writer's belief that a book could be written about every one of the major colors in the color wheel. There is a cultural and psychological history that could be examined and explored in comparison to major events and trends of the day. For example, pink has been accepted as a baby girl color and is still the balloon color of choice for proud parents who want to announce the birth of their baby girl. So how did pink become accepted in our culture as a girl or feminine color?

I have asked this question repeatedly of color theorists and received no answer, so I did a little digging myself trying to come up with a plausible conclusion. And here's what I found...during World War II the Nazis used a color- & shape-coded system to keep track of their prisoners. Jews were given a yellow star of David to wear to identify them. Homosexuals were given a pink inverted triangle, which is also half a star of David. During WWII, the color pink would not have had a feminine or masculine association. It is my theory that the association of pink as a feminine color began with the use of the pink triangle back in the twentieth century by Nazi Germany. The association of pink with homosexuality could have changed or morphed into representing the feminine during this time.

[sub]http://artsociety.suite101.com/article.cfm/color__the_history_of_pink[/sub]

 

[Soviet Heavy]

It's not pink! It's lightish red!