Should baby boys wear pink? Supposedly, the color pink was designated for girls and blue designated for boys so people would be able to distinguish a baby boy from a baby girl. This theory is somewhat confusing since it’s appropriate to use “neutral” colors, mint green and yellow for both a boy and girl. If these colors are
appropriate for both, how do we distinguish the gender? We ask if we’re unsure. You know the question, I’m sure you’ve asked it a hundred times too, “Is it a boy or girl”? If asking a simple question will clarify this uncertainty, why can’t we put little boys in pink and little girls in blue and eliminate the stigma?
Could it be that we have developed a phobia and we’re afraid that if we put little boys in pink we think they will end up Gay? Afterall, pink is seen as quiet, calm and feminine color. On many occasions, I’ve heard mothers of baby boys say, “I’m not putting my baby boy in pink”. Blue is seen as strong and steadfast, but in today’s society it’s acceptable for a woman to have these characteristics, at least to a certain point. Which leads to more contradiction.
Did you know that prisons use pink to help diffuse violence. Why aren’t the prison walls painted blue if it is a manly color? Instead they’re painting the walls pink and encouraging men to get in touch with their feminine side. A side that we teach little boys from infancy to not have. We all know that violent criminals need more than a pink wall for rehabilitation, but many believe that the color pink helps with this endeavor. Pink is a soft, non-threatening color. That’s what we want our violent criminals to be, soft and non-threatening. Shouldn’t we have put them in pink at infancy if this is the goal?
Lets look at this contradiction from another perspective. It’s inappropriate for baby boys to wear pink, why men wearing shades of pastels these days? Lavender, corral, yellow, and pink. Yes, I said pink! I’ve witnessed it in corporate America with shirts and ties, and polos for golfers. I witnessed one of my doctors the other day wearing a beautiful fuchsia tie. I wonder if an NFL linebacker would strut a fuchsia tie or pink shirt? Yep, we found Brandon Spikes, who is a linebacker for the New England Patriots, not only in a pink tie and shirt, but in pink from head to toe. Brandon calls it his lucky suit.
Here’s the infamous and gorgeous Brad Pitt. What is he doing, he’s rocking a pink suit. Who would have thought that one of Hollywood’s finest would be photographed in a pink suit.
Here’s a picture of my family wearing pink to honor my son-in-law’s 95 year old grandma who recently passed. His mother requested everyone to wear pink in honor of struggle with breast cancer. I must say, my son-in-law is wearing pink well and did so with pride.
So what has changed? I’m crediting the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness in helping men and society as a whole become more comfortable in wearing pink and other pastel colors.
We love to know if you would allow your little boy or grandson to wear pink? Would you be comfortable if your husband or significant other wore pink? Please leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.
@Momsweb – I agree, society has influence on many things in our life. Personally, I think people should wear what they want as long as it is not revealing. I'm glad your son is confident, and we wears what he loves.
I love the way society places demands on what we should and shouldn't wear. "THEY" have so much control and we usually follow right along with their subtle demands. I personally love to see men in pink and my oldest teenaged son wears it from time to time.
I would prefer not to put infants or toddler boys in pink, but young boys in a dark suit with a pink dress shirt and accented tie I don't have a problem with. I don't like the entire pink suit because I'm not a matchy, matchy fan of anything. I think as a society we have put too much emphasis on color as one being manly and another being feminine. We need to teach our growing men, especially our black young men, what it truly means to be a man. And that has nothing to do with the color of the clothes he's wearing.
Personally, I wouldn’t let my son wear pink. As a child, I was taught that pink was for girls and blue was for boys. I’ve never been able to get with the whole idea of males in pink. The “Real Men Wear Pink” campaign was unable to change my opinion, so I doubt that anything can.
I don’t mind pink on boys – I do like to dress my newborn up in very obvious boy or girl clothes though because they are just so cute! Once they get older they don’t appreciate cutie pie outfits like that, LOL 🙂
No, I personally would not allow my little boy to wear pink (as a baby). It would make me nuts having people come up to me saying “Oh what a cute little girl”. The funny thing is, my oldest son (age 4) – his Favorite color is pink. That is fine with me. I may put him in a cute pink dress shirt or something like that, but not in a pink sweat suit – that would just be crazy. 🙂
Dawn
@PainterMommy
I have heard that even in the hospital, babies wrapped in pink are held more and treated more gently than babies wrapped in blue. Babies wrapped in blue tend to be told more often how big and strong they are. (Of course, I can’t find the link this morning.) Its interesting to think how that early treatment can effect development later on.
Yes of course!! What harm does it do if someone thinks your baby boy is a girl? And there’s no way, ever, that someone would end up gay because they wore pink. It’s not choice. And if that is the case, I guess I am going to have gay sons. Which is cool with me. 🙂