About Pink

How pink is pink here? 

For the longest time, I have been thinking about the colour pink. Why do I have to think about the colour pink? Why must I rationalize my choice to choose or not choose pink? Pink is so burdened with ideas of femininity, that by extension it becomes simultaneously connected to the ideas of blonde bimbos and little girls playing with dolls- both of which are again, only perpetuating stereotypes. Back in high school I despised the colour pink and would never be caught dead with anything even in shades of peach or neon pink, baby pink and its thousand other varieties. Now that I look back at those times, it’s hard to miss the power and control that one gave to the colour pink. Ironically, it is this same power that allows stereotypes to persist even today.

Every time someone comments “pink?”, it is easy to surmise what the person has concluded. Pink is girly- why would any rational person ever choose pink? And that is exactly where my problem lies. Firstly, why does pink necessarily have to connote ‘girly’ and secondly, what exactly is wrong with being “girly”? Every time someone walks in with a pink phone, or bottle or umbrella, or shirt, or anything for that matter, why that incredulous stare? Note how I used the word someone- not a girl specifically-because men fall victim to such pressures too. Such ridiculous gendering of colours only pushes the performative act of genders, as if only men can be masculine (virile, aggressive, strong) and only women can be feminine (gentle, compassionate, nurturing, requiring protection). Not only have these ideas taken root externally in society, but internally too, these are justified by objective scientific data that insists that testosterone and estrogen contribute to the essence of the identity, of the person. So testosterone becomes this powerful hormone contributing to men’s libido and women who are lacking it, become beings who are “lacking” in desire-be it sexual, social, political, intellectual. The bone of contention here then, is that women become constructed as the anti thesis of men. This is not to say that men and women are similar or think similarly or act similarly, I am extremely aware of the differences. But for women to be treated as inferiors, or anything remotely associated to women gets scoffed at, because it is not “manly”, which has become synonymous with the normative, it becomes problematic.

The more I think about it; maybe it’s not really our fault that we think this way. We are bombarded with these ideas every day. Take “Legally Blonde” for example- a sweet movie about this rich girl who comes to her own independence and discovers herself- but could you see intimate connection between rich-blonde-pink-spoilt-girl? The same thread follows in all high school movies regarding the cool cheerleaders, the mean girls (literally the movie “Mean Girls” too). After such exposure, after being born into a world where the boy child is identified by a blue towel and the girl child by a pink towel, it is hard to break through such ideas. Which is why I find what PINK has done with her name so fascinating. The singer goes by the name P!NK but there is nothing pink about her! Not in her music, her lyrics, her clothes, her attitude. Whether this was a conscious decision, a political stand is something I cannot say- but I love the way she has redefined pink and broken all implied meanings with it.

Pink. Politically.

Such a radical stand is required these days. I am not going to conclude saying pink is just a colour and stop giving so much power to it. Nothing is ever just a colour or a pen or a stair or a flower. Pink is just a colour and so much more. With time, pink has come to be associated with femininity and girlishness and whatever else these words insidiously imply. Maybe you like pink, maybe you do not. But if someone does, there is no reason to smirk and scoff at their decision. It doesn’t mean excessive emotions and brain damage and it would be wrong to conclude so from a colour. At the same time, instead of the baggage of inferior femininity, I wish pink came to break its gendered shackles and represented more solidarity-not just amongst women, but men, women and transgenders-the equality between all living beings and the historicity of this equality.