the origin of pink for girls and blue for boys

[Maruschke]

Ages and ages ago, males were considered more spiritual than women. Think about the story of Adam and Eve... it was Eve who was deceived, not Adam. Women were considered more fleshly ( a bad thing ).

So it came about that male babies were dressed in sky blue (I guess since in ancient thought, heaven or the afterlife was just past the sky dome) and female babies were dressed in flesh coloured pink to indicate their flesh driven nature.

I really want to protest against this .

[willow5]

Very interesting.

[Jellybean29]

I always thought boys were dressed in blue so it was harder for the Gods to see them in ancient Greek legends?


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[Eenee]

They used to also dress boys in pink and girls in blue well that was my understanding anyway

[LimeSlice]

Yep, what em said.

It was the reverse until late 19th early 20th century, as the pale blue was considered a softer colour. We had a thread about this about 12 months or so ago. There was a lot of detail in it I think, very interesting.

[Floweryfields]

I read somewhere just recently that when colour dying of fabric first became common, boys were dressed in pink and girls in blue, as pink dye's were more expensive and boys valued more highly than girls (china originally I think). Blue was also considered more dainty for girls as it was a gentler colour.

Just found this:

Contrary to the above, until around 1940, blue was the common color for girls, as it was seen as daintier. Boys, on the other hand, were dressed in pink, because it is a dilution of the color red, therefore considered to be stronger. In addition, boys were commonly dressed in skirts and dresses up until the age of 6 or 7. It was not until the late 1950s that dresses for baby boys were dropped from the clothing lines in most department stores.

There are many photos of my Dad dressed in 'dresses' as a bub.

that using color for baby gender identification is (perhaps) a pretty recent development. Earlier in the twentieth century, color identification was used but it was reversed. That is, pink was used for boys and blue for girls. This was noted in several newspaper articles (1914, 1918) advising that since pink was the stronger color and better for boys whereas blue is more delicate and therefore more suitable for girls.



It is also stated that the current identification didn’t become uniform until the 1950s. Nazi Germany made homosexuals wear a pink marking and this may have had something to do with the switch in gender identification color.



But it is also said that blue may be associated with boys because having a boy baby was considered associated with good luck in ancient times. So the boy baby was dressed in blue since that was the color of the sky where the gods lived and was considered a way of warding off bad luck. Same thing in Greece where blue eyes were considered to be able to turn away evil.



In ancient China, red dye was relatively cheap and plentiful whereas blue dye was much more expensive and rare. So it was considered appropriate to dress a son in blue because he would bring a dowry to the family when he married.

[beansbeans!]

Oooh I love reading about these sorts of things. I always find it surprising as to why society follows certain things.

Bit off topic but, I know that wedding dresses used to be light blue until Mary Antoinette got married and she wanted something different so went with a white dress. And also she is jill in the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. And on the wedding front that flowers used to be smelly herbs to ward off evil spirits but they were replaced by flowers because of said smell.

We have pics of Dh's father as a child in dresses (actually the girls' going home from hospital outfit is one of his dresses). I personally find it sad that we still dress our babes in colours that have such gender stereotype in them (boys are stronger and worth more than girls etc).

Mind you I happily rebel against this at every chance I get.

[onthefly]

I'm pretty sure it was cooked up by someone trying to make a buck

[Astrid]

Bit off topic but, I know that wedding dresses used to be light blue until Mary Antoinette got married and she wanted something different so went with a white dress.

Ooh, would have to argue against that one. For the average person, the wedding dress was any colour, as they basically wore their best dress. Clothing was expensive, especially the nicer stuff, looking at a months wages to pay for one. Queen Victoria when she was married opted for a white dress (can't remember the reason why), at that time what ever royalty did the populous followed. Will be interested to look up the Marie Anntoinette reference (sorry historical costuming nerd here, just don't get me started on Vikking clothes )

[*Sparklez*]

Hmm I've never taken much consideration as to why the colours were delegated to each sex,
Tbh I dressed all my children in varieties of pink and blues for both sexes, but this is interesting.. Lime could you link the thread at all?


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[Maruschke]

I will try to find the article I was reading because it was fascinating.

[*Sparklez*]

Yes please do!


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[e_p]

I read somewhere recently that girls were dressed in blue until the early 1900s because the Virgin Mary wore blue? I wonder what changed?

[Phteven]

Interesting blog with some great links Pink v blue - are children born with gender preferences? | Politics | guardian.co.uk

There has been quite a bot of discussion about pink/blue in the British media since Hamley's decided to scrap the colour coding.

Yasin's favourite jumper for a long time was pink until he got older and realised that people expected him to wear blue. He also enjoyed dolls and pretending to be a Dad until MIL told him dolls were for girls. *****.

[wysiwyg]

Thanks for the link - my DD loves pink more than anything and lots of very girly things which is complete opposite of me - I often wonder where she gets it from as has displayed from very young age despite the fact had as little pink as possible (maybe it became a special thing because of this). She also favours round things and circles especially which is mentioned in article.

[Rouge]

I always thought it had to do with the french...

[Astrid]

Pink is diluted red. So boys used to wear pink due to its connection with red. Can't remember when and where that started.

Through out the ages fashion has been powerful. From styles, types of fabrics, colours, adornments etc all connected to wealth, politics, royalty, location/culture.

[Netix]

From the book of customs and superstitions; How did it begin? by R. Brasch :

Blue for Boys and Pink for Girls

An explanation of the custom of dressing boys and girls in different colours is linked with their sex. Babies all look alike, and what better means of identifying them readily than by colours- blue for boys and pink for girls? THis colour scheme has been adopted all over the world. But who would ever suspect that in the blue ribbon tied up a terror-crazed past and a haunting fear of anxious parents, deeply concerned with their baby's future?

From the days of antiquity it was beleived that evil spirits hovered menacingly over the nursery. It was thought further that the evil ones were allergice to certain colours, of which the most potent was blue. It was considered that the association of blue with the heavenly sky rendered satanic forces powerless and drove them away. Even in our own time Arabs in the Middle East continue to paint the doors of their homes blue to frighten away demons. Thus, the display of blue on a young child was not merely an adornment but a necessary precaution.

Girl babies were regarded as vastly inferior to boy babies and it was assumed that evil spirits would not be interested in them. That is why blue was reserved for boys. Any distinctive colour for girls was deemed unnecessary.

Possibly later generations, unaware of the original cause of "blue for boys" but very much conscious of the neglect of girls, introduced for them the new pink-look.

European legendary tradition suggests another beautiful explanation of the colour scheme for babies. This tells that baby boys are found under cabbages whose colour - on the Continent of Europe - was mostly blue. Baby girls on the other hand, were born inside a pink rose.