Are blue and pink universal colours representing male and female?
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Yeah, that's pretty much it in North America. I don't know about other cultures, though.
When we didn't know whether our child was going to be a boy or a girl, we picked pale green and pastel stripes with all colours.
Clothing was in neutral colours, too. I got lots of pink hand-me-downs when we had a daughter.
When we didn't know whether our child was going to be a boy or a girl, we picked pale green and pastel stripes with all colours.
Clothing was in neutral colours, too. I got lots of pink hand-me-downs when we had a daughter.
Actually, this changed at some point in history. Before the change, blue was the female color, red was for males and accordingly the "weaker" forms of these colors were worn by children.
Therefore, I don't regard it as "natural". You can do it in an extraterrestrial culture as a joke, but if you want to write about a non-western society, make sure you do proper research on what colours they use for what.
Therefore, I don't regard it as "natural". You can do it in an extraterrestrial culture as a joke, but if you want to write about a non-western society, make sure you do proper research on what colours they use for what.
"One of the most common examples of color symbolism in clothing is the custom of using pink for girls and blue for boys ... but it wasn’t always this way. This tradition emerged at the turn of the 20th century. Since pink was thought to be a stronger color, it was best suited for boys; blue was more delicate and dainty and best for girls. In 1921, the Women's Institute for Domestic Science in Pennsylvania endorsed pink for boys, blue for girls.
Source:Berlin and Kay, When Blue Meant Yellow,.pp. 20 -21)
Even more interesting is the fact that pink is the color for baby boys and blue is the color for baby girls in Belgium today.
Another interesting fact about pink is that pink is a very masculine color in Bermuda. Also, British bankers and barristers have worn pink shirts for decades. Pink goes in and out of fashion in other parts of the world."
http://www.colormatters.com/kids/wear.html
Source:Berlin and Kay, When Blue Meant Yellow,.pp. 20 -21)
Even more interesting is the fact that pink is the color for baby boys and blue is the color for baby girls in Belgium today.
Another interesting fact about pink is that pink is a very masculine color in Bermuda. Also, British bankers and barristers have worn pink shirts for decades. Pink goes in and out of fashion in other parts of the world."
http://www.colormatters.com/kids/wear.html
See also :
http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/bl_colorculture.htm
Google something like "cultural differences colour symbolism" for more. It's a fascinating topic.
Strongly agree with Menyanthana's remarks. Research into *and* experience of the culture you're writing about would be the ideal. Very easy to assume the way one is familiar with is universal, when in fact it's culture-specific.
http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/bl_colorculture.htm
Google something like "cultural differences colour symbolism" for more. It's a fascinating topic.
Strongly agree with Menyanthana's remarks. Research into *and* experience of the culture you're writing about would be the ideal. Very easy to assume the way one is familiar with is universal, when in fact it's culture-specific.
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johnnysannie
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Yellow used to be the traditional "baby" color when you didn't know if you would have a boy or a girl.
I have never thought of "green" as a "boy" color; in fact one of my daughters as a infant looked great in green (and still does) so she had several soft green sleepers.
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It's a recent thing. Several friends I know who had boys all went with a green color scheme. I think yellow might still be neutral but I mostly see it paired with pink, so it may be leaning towards girl.
I read a thesis about color symbolism (not otherwise published, so I can't point anybody to it) but at any rate, it laid out what different colors symbolized across four or five cultures.
What I got from it was, do not assume anything is universal. Don't even assume black-mourning is universal; in some cultures white is the mourning color.
...Well, okay, I think you can assume that bright colors, in general, are "stronger" than pastels and "happier" than grey/brown muddy colors. But don't assume anything about universals of hue.
What I got from it was, do not assume anything is universal. Don't even assume black-mourning is universal; in some cultures white is the mourning color.
...Well, okay, I think you can assume that bright colors, in general, are "stronger" than pastels and "happier" than grey/brown muddy colors. But don't assume anything about universals of hue.
Exactly because of it I was wondering. I try to make a fictional civilization and try that this one to be more appart from a specific one and I was wondering this one
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Quite so. And, in addition, since many of the color prefs would have been set in a pre-industrial era, the cost of a particular pigment or dye, and how easy it was to work with would also have influenced its scarcity value and symbolism.
Blue was Mary's color mainly because it was precious.
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I'm not sure where this stands now; there's a lot of pink/ pastel girl stuff, but I also saw young Japanese men pulling pink suitcases or using pink cellphones that would have been defined as clearly girly in the US.