My son will be born in less than 8 weeks. His bedroom is blue & white, like a cloudy sky. The rug in front of his crib is blue... so are the curtains and the decorative pillows. At our first baby shower, we received 12 blankets... they're all blue. When we registered for gifts, we didn't have much of a choice in color... pink for girls, blue for boys, and yellow & green combos in case you don't know the sex of the baby. That's all that's out there... seriously. I can understand, somewhat, because so many other colors are "harsh" and they want everything to be matchy-matchy. We made sure to ask for 3/4 of our stuff to be in green & yellow... for variety. Of course, outfits can be found in any color... but onesies, hats, booties, blankets- all the standards come in those four colors, for those three sex options. And of course, since nobody really follows registries, we ended up with everything being in blue. Of course, my girlfriend loves the frogs and puppy dogs associated with "little boys" and therefore adores the critter adorned fabrics. But, we wonder, why nobody picked the green & yellow stuff?
Why are boys SO stuck with the color blue, and girls pink, that people only see those two colors if they know the sex of the baby? Why is it such a big deal for guys to wear pink (and I'll admit, I won't do it- but it doesn't mean I can't question it)? Why does society put such a harsh hand to males in pink, purple & variations of those colors. Girls can wear blue, and camo is even considered "hot" for them. Gender discrimination by color clearly begins at birth, but why is it that females break out of it while they're kids, and males are still stereotyped and only allowed "masculine" colors? "Tough guys wear pink" shirts, and other pink shirts intended to make a statement for males, are not accepted where I am. They're somewhat common, but guys wearing them can't go five minutes without sarcastic remarks.
I'm not complaining, or wishing to change society's stereotyping... I'm just venting about one TINY part of gender discrimination. :-)
I think babies should be able to wear either color! I mean there is no for sure way to tell. The ultra sound (and yes in know things have changed in 18 years) showed me to be a boy! and i am very much a girl. So I had to wear all blue. My moms best friend, had all pink (they didn't know each other at the time) and most of it dresses! Her son had to wear pink alot because he had nothing else. (at home he wore dresses if he had to) As long as the babies are wearing clotes I don't see what it should matter that they wear!
It's wrong. maybe because men are so afriad of being labeled as "gay". it's not only pink, man can't wear rainbow shirts eaither. And that is wrong. Teach your kids to not judge on colors
yeah and pink really does look good on alot of guys
It's like a form of conformity. Also, like guys aren't really supposed to have really long hair--girls are. And guys aren't supposed to shave their legs--but girls are expected to. Guys shouldn't wear pink--that's for girls. They're like little unwritten rules of life that everyone's supposed to follow. And when someone doesn't, they're usually looked down upon. I don't think it should be like that, either.
Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your son! :)
Great topic. I never even thought about this before, but now that I am, it's very strange that people do this. If I have a baby, I would rather not know the gender, and buy as many things as possible in random colors.
Has anyone thought about the historical fact that it used to be the reverse? Blue for girls and pink or red for boys?