Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Chapter 3

If you have not noticed from my other posts, I dislike pink.

My memory is a little hazy, but I have an impression that whenever asked what my favorite color was when I was younger, pink would never make the cut. At that time, however, I still tolerated pink. I once had a pink Barbie book bag, and I distinctly remember wearing a pink dress. But as I grew older and transitioned into my “tween” years, I remember rejecting anything pink. I had almost a hatred for the color or anything seemingly girly.

I’ve always wanted to be a strong girl. During recess in elementary school, I ran around with the boys and chased them around the field. In middle school, I took P.E. very seriously. As a competitive person, I had to be in the action at all times. When we played capture the football, I played offense with the boys while the “girlie-girls” played defense, which meant they just stood in the back and talked. I didn’t want to be like those girls. They were too passive. Too girly. And of course, I had to reject everything that meant being girly, which included the color pink. (By the way, my favorite color is blue, which may or may not also be indicative of a desire to be more masculine…but who knows, that may just be another social construct).

These past few years, I have been more in touch with my “girly” side; I now enjoy shopping more than I used to, and I’m more conscious about how I look and what I wear (but sometimes I’m still just like “f the patriarchy, I’ll wear what I want to wear”). But I still don’t like pink. Which brings me to an important point.

I share Orenstein’s frustration that 99% of things marketed towards girls is pink and sparkly (why is marketing specifically for girls necessary anyway?). Like, I do not want to choose between different shades of pink or purple sneakers, write with pink pens meant “for Her” (look up BIC for Her on Google, I swear it’s worth the laugh), or even shave with a pink razor. Don’t tell me the reason is that pink resonates more with female consumers. I mean, come on marketing teams…seriously? Maybe the reason why pink and feminine colors sell so well is that you and the rest of society condition little girls to like pink. Oh, and don’t get me started on the gender tax.

That sounded very angry at all things pink, which I didn’t necessarily mean. Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t care any less that things are pink. I’m only upset at the fact that companies specifically use pink to target women. News flash: women like all the visible wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. If you like pink, more power to you. I won’t stop you. You go, girl. But you can miss me with the pink wash of all products meant “for Her.”

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