Monday, October 13, 2014

Pink is polarizing. We need to get over ourselves.

I've been regaled on social media lately with a smattering of complaints from women regarding the company's usage of pink. To listen to these women, you would think that our Pantone map consisted only of the spectrum between 189 C and 235 C, and nothing else.

I fully understand that pink has a shady past. It carries a stigma that it means you are somehow soft and weak. I often object to any sort of gender stereotyping, and assigning a colour to people just because they are boys or girls. For things like greeting cards and toys, this sets girls up for a specific path in life. Where boys get bikes and adventure, girls get kittens and ribbons. It's this particular use of pink that I find incredibly disagreeable. For many cultural reasons, this sort of targeting needs to change.

But as a color used in consumer goods aimed at adults, I think it's time for people to stop raging against the idea that pink somehow defines who you are. It's a color. It's not a personality profile. If the idea of wearing a pink thing makes you feel that you project some sort of weakness to other people, then it's time to examine the fact that in reality, the weakness lies within yourself.

Be stronger than the colors you wear. It's that simple.