"Why do all the girls have to buy pink stuff"

[Terrie]

As a child of the 80's, I don't remember much pink. Which is good, because I'm not a big fan of the color. In the spirit of "No Pink!" I give you this old Legos ad, which I love:

ETA: It's from 1981.

[HoneyBunny]

LOVE the Lego ad. Thanks for posting that! I like what it says about younger children build for fun, older children build for realism. Never thought about it exactly like that, but it's so true. That's why I've bought $1000s of dollars of Lego sets over the years for kids. The perfect gift. Lasts forever and adapts as kids grow.

Anyways, back to the OT. I was born in the early 60s. Mom hated pink, because her mother had loved it and everything my mom got was pink. Mom liked lilac. Everything I got was lilac. I hate lilac. I love pink. I've managed to sneak a little bit into every room of the house, because I look God-awful in the color. My husband tolerates it, as long as it's a coral-y or beige-y pink.

And, FWIW, I'm an over-educated tomboy approaching 50. I hate lace, and ruffles and girly-girl stuff. But pink is still my favorite color.

[tropaka]

I guess at some point pink jumped from girls' decor (thinking the Brady girls' room) onto the clothes...when I was little there were some horrible Laura Ashley/Holly Hobbie inspired floral dresses that I recall, but by the time I was in high school in the mid 80's, pink was everywhere...horrible pinks in what I think of as "shades of Pepto-Bismol". My 2 y/o loves pink and purple and playing princess, but every so often she decides to ditch the tiara for a superhero cape

[Guest Anonymous]

My mother would dress me in pink as a baby/little girl. When I asked her about it years later, she said she thought I looked cute in pink. I then asked her if she thought that was sexist. She said no for the same reason. My sister on the other hand got dressed in blue for the same reason. My nephew seems to favor the color pink. He's autistic and seeing pink seems to have a calming effect on him. That's just my assumption based on observation. I'm not medical professional or child care specialist. But if he likes pink, who cares? It's just a color.

Having said that....I think pink for girls (and blue for boys for that matter) is now such a tradition that a lot of people just do it because that's the way it's always been done. Fundies on the other hand maybe get pink stuff because they associate colors with sexxual orientation. What bugs me even more is the sexist attitude that girls should play with dolls and what is considered traditionally "girly" toys while boys should play with trucks, trains, and what is considered "boyish" toys! These are some messed up ideas about sexual orientation that really have no basis in fact. Wait...I take that back...it has basis in fundie fact!

[Kitchen Princess]

My boys were born in the '80s and pink was a very popular color for boys then. I wore pastel colors a lot in the late '70s but I prefer solids in basic colors now. I buy my grandchildren black and brown all the time, now. What I really hate in boys clothes are motifs. I never want there to be anything on the shirts, but that's the hardest thing to find.

[ElphabaGalinda]

I hated pink as a little girl, and luckily 15ish years ago when i was a little kid there were options that weren't pink. I tried to buy some clothes for my 6 year old cousin recently and non- pink, non-"girly" was really hard to find. My favourite toy as a little girl was my hot wheels, and I really hope they don't pinkify that. They probably already have.