Pink and Blue: Coloring Inside the Lines of Gender (2024)

FAQs

What does pink and blue mean in gender? ›

August 2022) Since at least the 19th century, the colours pink and blue have been used to indicate gender, particularly for babies and young children. The current tradition in the United States (and an unknown number of other countries) is "pink for girls, blue for boys".

“Blue has become a symbol of strength and masculinity, while pink symbolizes sweetness and femininity.”

Blue was meant to go with blue eyes and/or blonde hair, and pink for brown eyes and/or brown hair. Then, blue was actually the color that was assigned to girls, because it was seen as a dainty color, and pink was seen as a stronger color, so it was assigned to boys.

Now you may be wondering what color you will get when you mix pink and blue. The answer to this question is that you will get a shade of purple. The shade of purple you end up with will depend on certain factors, but you can bet that we will cover all of these factors as we move through the guide.

In 1999, an activist designed this transgender pride flag. Light blue represents boys, pink represents girls, and white represents those who are transitioning, feel they have a neutral gender or no gender, or are intersex.

According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, sensitivity, tenderness, sweetness, childhood, femininity, and romance.

The flag represents the transgender community and consists of five horizontal stripes. Two light blue which is the traditional color for baby boys, two pink for girls, with a white stripe in the center for those who are transitioning, who feel they have a neutral gender or no gender, and those who are intersex.

Pastel pink works beautifully with its opposite on the colour wheel. Clearly, opposites attract and play nicely, even though you may think they'd clash. Baby pink and blue can create a calming and serene environment. These pale tones make a fresh and inviting entrance way as shown in the photo below.

They are not, except in the minds of advertising people who thought they could sell more goods if they made pink things for girls and blue things for boys. Before that, there were no gender properties of colours. And if you see past the advertising world, there is no need for there to be any.

The pink and blue problem is the enforcing of gender stereotypes through color, associated roles, and imagery. The root of this problem is that many people are unaware of the difference between “sex” and “gender”, and that they can be mutually exclusive.

What is the color for gender equality? ›

Symbolically, purple is a hue that has been used for centuries to represent wealth, nobility, luxury and power. It is also a color used throughout modern history to represent the fight for gender equality and International Women's Day on March 8.

Pink was seen as a lighter, softer version of the powerful and bold red - a color associated with strength and courage, traits traditionally associated with men. Blue, on the other hand, was seen as a more delicate color, reminiscent of the Virgin Mary and thus linked to femininity.

“If you go back to the 18th century, little boys and little girls of the upper classes both wore pink and blue and other colors uniformly,” said Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at FIT, the Fashion Institute of Technology, in New York. In fact, pink was even considered to be a masculine color.

Red and white mixed together make pink. The amount of each color you add affects the shade of pink you end up with.

More than that, pink and blue aren't the only color options for baby gender reveal ideas. You can go bold with lime green for a girl and bright orange for a boy. Or you can go with any color at all – you don't have to limit gender to two ideas or colors.

There are only two genders when it comes to colours, there is no in-between. Whether a colour is male or female depends on its chromosomes. Blue and pink have only been associated with boys and girls respectively, for the last hundreds years or so.

Help baby live their life in color with the name Blue. This gender-neutral name has German and Old English roots, connecting baby to the iconic color. While this color and word can be linked to sadness, there's no reason to let this name give you the blues.