Project Pink

How Do You Feel About Your Colour?

Pink. A colour that throws up varying reactions was allocated to me for my first FCP project. At first I was cynical as pink has upheld such a tainted social stigma, however having researched deeper into the colour my perception of pink has changed a great deal...

Going through the motion of creating two mood boards titled 'Love it' and 'Over It' allowed me to visually present my personal feelings towards pink. In doing so I have realised that my previous opinion on pink has become increasingly more positive. Like most people, when given pink I instantly thought of issues within the cultural sphere, naturally my mood boards focused mainly on these issues.

The most poignant issue for me was the restricting nature of pink in regards to gender and sexuality. Due to social conditioning in the media and entertainment pink has been used to convey weakness and immaturity. Consequently, young girls are being fed damaging perceptions of femininity. Examples of this are present in fashion retail; with casual sexism permeating children’s clothing ranges. British super-market Morrison’s recently made headlines with its misogynistic children's t-shirts with slogans reading 'little man, big ideas' and contrasting 'little girl, big smiles'. As well as the slogan, the girl's t-shirt featured pink font and flowers, which only deepen the sexist undertones. This is extremely damaging as marketers are interfering with the formative years of young girls, which is the time internalised the most by children.

Whilst the diminishment of young girls' intellect and potential is inconceivable in modern society, there have been movements made towards equality with pink at the forefront. The 'Millennial Pink' trend of 2016/7 coincides with the objectives of the current 'Fourth Wave Feminism' movement many young people are familiar with. The movement strives for social justice and complete equality of the sexes. With pink having been so rigidly placed on the feminine side of the colour spectrum for so long, the trend blew up. With gender fluidity and sexuality being such poignant topics for young people the trend allowed us to reinvent the colour pink, for all our own reasons. High-street brands such as Topshop, River Island, and Asos all supported the trend,

which perpetuated this notion of gender fluidity to more young males.

Entertainment has also added to the negative reputation of pink, with movies such as 'Mean Girls'. Central to this tween movie are 'the Plastics' who introduce unhealthy female rivalry to the narrative. Embedded into the visual characterisation of the ‘Plastics' is the colour pink, thus giving it the qualities of; ‘brattiness’ and self-entitlement. Challenging this negative relationship between females and pink within entertainment is 'Legally Blonde's' character, Elle Woods. She tears down societal constructs throughout the film by sporting something pink at all times, whether an entire outfit, or accessories whilst getting a law degree. Similarly, the women-only Gulabi Gang of Northern India are actively stomping out domestic violence, rape, child marriages, and corruption in power in India. The ‘Pink Sari Revolution’ wears only pink whilst out creating awareness of the extreme problems within their nation. Pink has also been used in the emblem for Breast Cancer Research, both this and the Gulabi Gang emit such female strength and resilience, whilst wearing pink.

Overall my opinion on the damaging aspects of pink have not changed, as society has embedded the notion of pink as being feminine and inherently weak to such a point that it is subconscious. Although having seen the efforts to reclaim pink as a colour of fluidity and strength it is refreshing to see how socio-political changes reflect onto such topics. With boys wearing pink, actresses playing roles for little girls to look up to, and women empowering other women I believe that pink can become unchained from its hyper-feminine depiction.

#pink #feminimity #reclaimingpink