Comments on Hobo Mama: Why boys don't wear pink, and why girls do

Lisa, I completely agree. I'm pregnant now...

2009-10-30T22:02:07.171-07:00

Lisa,

I completely agree.

I'm pregnant now with my first, and I dont know the gender, partially because I dont want to have to tell other people and have them start assigning the poor kid roles. That's what we do when we dress our children gender-specific, no matter what the conventions happen to be at the time.

We are signaling to other adults and already-socialized children how we would like them to treat the child.

It's not that babies acquire gender-specific behaviors when they experience a certain color, but that dressing in a certain color tells the people around how to genderize the child while socializing it.

I'm more comfortable with my child having a sexuality than a gender!!!

Martica

lisa: It's weird how everyone has to id...

2009-08-16T23:42:35.285-07:00

lisa: It's weird how everyone has to identify each baby by gender, isn't it? As if it matters when they're babies. My mom always used to get annoyed because my little brother had really long eyelashes and was quite pretty so was mistaken for a girl all the time -- even though he was dressed in primary colors, which she thought should be obviously boyish.

anon:I'll join you in the long curly hair on a boy trend! I can't bear to cut my son's sweet ringlets. I just love watching them keep on growing.

And I think white onesies and jeans is quite a chic look, for either gender. :) Best wishes on the next little one!

Yeah the gender based color system pretty well suc...

2009-08-12T17:18:20.598-07:00

Yeah the gender based color system pretty well sucks! I have a 2 1/2 year old boy -- with beautiful curly blond hair, that is long like his uncle and dada. Brown eyes with long eyelashes, and is quite fond of hot pink. ~shrug~

I don't worry about what people say. I hear "oh what a pretty little girl"... sometimes I"ll respond with "he's got great hair" sometimes I don't bother.

Realistically, though I think the color cued clothes are quite gender biased and if this next ones a girl (two weeks to go!) I suspect it'll wear the same hand me downs that the first did... white onsies and jeans. LOL That what we have the money for these days.

This article is fascinating, especially the part a...

2009-08-01T09:32:55.716-07:00

This article is fascinating, especially the part about how it was decided that pink is for girls and blue is for boys. I don't care for the color baby blue and was so sick of it before my son was even born. If I had a girl, I'd be afraid of all the pink I'd get. I'd rather dress them in what looks good on them, what colors appeal to me, or what colors appeal to my child. I avoid overly stereotyped clothing as well. I was pleased to see my niece wearing cars and trucks underwear the other day. One time I had my son in a pink pouch and someone thought he was a girl, and another time he was wearing some green beads and someone called him a girl. It bugged me--those are the only times people we confused on his gender.

This is so cool! What a fun conversation. rac...

2009-07-31T16:45:41.711-07:00
This is so cool! What a fun conversation.

rachel: Thanks for that link. The photos are astonishing. I was wondering that about that Chinese vs. British study: how ubiquitous have these cultural color identifications become? Because apparently pink vs. blue has reached (e.g.) South Korea.

maria: Oh, cool! That makes sense. I saw that your mom was commenting on your post but didn't connect the names. I'm glad you figured out I'd linked to you even though I hadn't gotten my butt over there to comment yet...

jo: Really loved the article, and can't wait to read the book!! I have a fascination for historical clothing and have always been intrigued by the white-dress trend that lasted so long in the West for young kids, plus the long flowing hair. (I remember, as a child, arguing with my mom that an antique picture of a toddler in a white dress with long blond ringlets could not be a boy; it just wasn't possible.)

arwyn: Thanks again for recommending such good reads. I'm always finding something tasty.

Ok, now a a little update on pink vs. blue: I went to an outdoor concert last night and stared at as many kids as I could without seeming creepy. :) My discovery: Every girl under 5 was wearing at least some pink (usually a lot). From 5-8 there was about 90-95% pink compliance. From 8 years old on, it was hit or miss, a lot of blues and greens. I thought it was interesting that it was the very youngest girls who had to have their femininity emphasized — maybe it's the lack of hair on young babies that scares people into delineating with clothing colors instead? Boys were wearing more variety than I'd feared (red, navy, orange, green, white, and some pastels), but I still wasn't drawn to the beauty of their clothes. I think maybe it's just male styles in general nowadays are kind of limited. Oh, for the 18th century, when men could be manly and wear velvet and lace and makeup! :)

In other news, my son picked out some barrettes at the store and is sporting three in his curls today: two ducks and a bear. People we've talked to have still recognized that he's a boy. Maybe it's the orange dump truck shirt and camo shoes.

I am ridiculously tickled and proud I played a rol...

2009-07-30T22:56:28.499-07:00
I am ridiculously tickled and proud I played a role in this bizarre twist of the internetz.

Also, excellent post Lauren, as usual. :)

And for what it's worth, the most recent pink ...

2009-07-30T04:31:48.516-07:00
And for what it's worth, the most recent pink clothing I have found for boys is a 1977 snowsuit for a "baby brother" paper doll. My book on gendered baby and toddler clothing is in progress, look for it in 2011 (fingers crossed).

p.s. you're right; i didn't mention it in ...

2009-07-29T13:44:35.447-07:00
p.s. you're right; i didn't mention it in my post, but the colors for boys are so disappointing. i have not yet met a little boy whose favorite color was navy blue, olive green or khaki.

dear hobomama, it was so nice of you to link to m...

2009-07-29T13:37:51.662-07:00
dear hobomama,

it was so nice of you to link to my post! in case you hadn't deduced the gendered-children's-clothing nepotism at work, jo paoletti is my mom. i promise this was not a conspiracy! thanks for bringing some new blood into the discussion :)

I stumbled across JeongMee Yoon's fascinating exploration of the cultural and commercial associations with these colors while stuck for several hours in the San Francisco airport. The ubiquity of gender-coded stuff can be overwhelming.