The average human eye can detect about seven million colors, two of those seven million colors pose an important role in shaping the American culture. Blue and pink, both these colors are used in society to represent masculinity and femininity. From the moment most children are born either a blue or pink color welcomes them into our society. Children grow up in the wake of these gender specific colors. Many boys are taught not to like “feminine”colors. Boys often get teased if they prefer a nice rosy pink to a blue hue; however, girls face no social stigmas for wearing masculine colors. Society, the media, and parents should not push boys to like certain colors based on gender. The stress caused by gender specific colors can cause many psychological issues in later life, as well as harassment from peers.
In American society there is a great amount of pressure on boys to be tough, sporty, and masculine. Boys are expected to look manly even at a young age. From infancy most boys are dressed in blue clothing sporting a tough image such as a truck or perhaps a dinosaur. The blue “tough” apparel the clothing companies manufacture and sell to stores influence a large percentage of parents to dress their boys in blue. This influence creates an unhealthy obsession among parents and kids to live up to the image the color represents. Mens sport teams also typically wear very “tough” colors. The washington nationals proudly rock a bright red, the Dallas cowboys wear a deep blue. The sports stars who are plastered on poster paper, and hung in young boys rooms further embed a strong manly mindset that's associated with the colors players wear on the playing field. If boys feel they do not live up to such an image it can create major self esteem issues. If colors were not gender specific many boys and men would be able to feel confident to don any color they wish without fear of repercussions from society.
Most boys learn from their parents as well as society that tough guys do not wear pink. Why is a color so close on the color spectrum to red; a very tough color, considered so feminine? In the eighteenth century it was quite normal to see a young boys sporting pink as it was a softer variation of red . Up until the mid 1900’s pink was considered a more masculine color and blue was considered more feminine shade. why have the tables turned so dramatically in the past 100 years? What about our society has shifted? In the 1980’s a feminist movement group proudly exhibiting pink attire. Such a movement inspired the general population to assume pink as feminine. Breast cancer foundations also reiterate that pink is girly. They do so by representing a cancer that mostly...
