According to market research studies, girls really like the color pink. Wow, I hear you say, unimpressed. How revolutionary.
I'm sorry, let me clarify. It seems that girls like the color pink so much that when a company released pink variants of a shampoo (no different from the ones already out on the market except for the fact that it was called [Shampoo Name] PINK, it came in a pink bottle and, presumably, it contained pink shampoo), they became so popular among the girls that stores would run out of stock.
Wow. How revolutionary.
I don't pretend to understand how this happened, and neither do I pretend to know why pink has always been associated with girls, though I do have my theories. Because of this ingrained consciousness, however, and as a young girl growing up to Oprah and the advent of female superheroes on television (e.g., She-Ra and the Sailormoon girls), I fought to resist this stereotype. I initially chose to like red before settling for the more decidedly ungirly blue and green, and entered my teens avoiding pink of any kind. But I should have known that as I allowed myself attracted to purple, which I thought more mature, that it was only a matter of time before I gave in to stereotype altogether.
My favorite color is actually white, but I've traitorously filled my closet with more pink than blue, and the moment I realized this my younger self balked at the idea that I'd turned myself into a statistic--and worse than that, into part of the majority.
What I dislike about sociological studies or observations involving human behavior is their uncanny way of predicting what I'm inclined to do, what I'm inclined to like. The enigma of human nature behind which I hide, which is supposed to be my shield from the prying, judging eyes of the world, is suddenly gone, and I hate the feeling of exposure and vulnerability that comes when certain aspects of that nature are revealed. This is why I rebelled against liking a color I may or may not have been predisposed to like. This is why I tried to deviate my opinions and beliefs from what one would normally expect.
I can't say how successful I've been, and I can't imagine that it mattered much in the great big scheme of things, but somehow, defining myself against how others would define me felt silly. In my stubborn non-conformity, wasn't I still allowing myself to conform, albeit adversely, to what others are saying? Haven't I become as much a social construct as the stereotype?
Forgive me for elevating the mundane, but that was good enough a revelation to change a significant part of how I view things. The way I figured things, there's nothing wrong with the fact that pink appeals to me. There's nothing wrong when popularly liked things appeal to me, in the same way that it's perfectly reasonable for me to dislike popular opinion as well, and even better, I do believe this all still falls under the predictable unpredictability of human nature, does it not?
Wow. How revolutionary.
The page you were looking for no longer exists
pinkgeek posted on Jul 10, 2006
| views: 686
Comments
-
silverwhisper said on Jul 10, 2006....
i'm looking forward to seeing more of your ramblings, pinkgeek. :> ed -
pinkgeek said on Jul 10, 2006....
Thanks, silverwhisper. :) -
rochella said on Jul 10, 2006....
We have similar stories - I have had favorite colors over the years, in order, that were: purple, gold, black, and finally, blue. However, I've tried to pretend like I wasn't equally obsessed with pink - and I am. I love pink. When I was in my "black" stage pink was so..passe, and lame. I've finally come to terms with my girlish nature. The thing about the color more specifically relates to music. I have so many friends that like music just because it is vague and hate popular music, or even worse, vague music that BECOMES popular music. And you know what? Vague music can be good, but so can popular music. Sometimes a music artist's popularity increases BECAUSE the music is good, obviously. -
pinkgeek said on Jul 10, 2006....
Rochella, I know what you mean. There's a difference between forming one's own opinion and letting people form their own [i]before[/i] either agreeing or disagreeing with it. That trend with music--indie music, right?--is so true. I've heard of one too many complaints about how bands have lost their appeal because they became popular, which is [i]really[/i] very rational, don't you think? ;) -
thenack said on Aug 01, 2006....
Hey I like your writing, you are superbly structured wilst at the same time a very exciting writer. I on the other hand can't spell and seldom have the time for spell checking (I am more into the techniacal and mathematica mathemat...1+1 kind of things) Will read some more of your stuff for sheer ease of reading and take the originality as a bonus. Cheers TN remember: its hip2b▐ (hows that for geekish) -
purple said on Aug 02, 2006....
At the risk of contradicting myself in the future, I've never been big on pink, even as a child. I resented having an assigned color. If I make baby clothes I never make them pink, opting for yellow or green just to confuse people. Pink was always a little too susy homemaker and easy-bake ovens. Standing in a peptobismol pink room makes me feel a bit queasy. I think I avoided ballet for the longest time because of the pink tights required by most studios. To my prom I wore an orange dress with a black shawl. The fact that I wore witchy colors didn't occur to me until years later. I've spent years studying colors and color theory.Cultures have such different takes on colors, like gypsies wearing black at weddings, and red being an icon in Asian countries. I do like men who are brave enough to wear pink shirts, but that has more to do with them fighting the gender bias and or standing up for breast cancer research. Ever look up Pink on Google? You get about a billion porn sites. Evidently the porn industry loves pink too. -
purple said on Aug 02, 2006....
Interesting to note: There is a pinkgeek.com and a pinkgeek.net. Who knew? -
pinkgeek said on Aug 02, 2006....
PURPLE: Haha, no, I can't say I've tried to do that, but I'm not surprised [b]pinkgeek[/b] is not such an uncommon username. It was the fact that the colors were assigned to gender that annoyed me immensely too, but I guess if I'd not considered that, I really do appreciate the color pink, in the same way that some other people wouldn't. I just don't like the idea now of resisting stereotype for the point of resisting stereotype, because it kind of, I don't know, seems silly. -
purple said on Aug 02, 2006....
Yes, it's like all the goth kids dressing alike to protest conformity. -
Root said on Aug 13, 2006....
I used to only love pink in the form of cotton candy. Only. And I mean that. It was not a color my mother encouraged. And then, I got to pick out my wallpaper around... oh age 10 or something. And I got this pink rosed & ribboned thing that... was really really pink. It took another 20+ years before I overcame that experience and began stretching my boundaries to include the color in my wardrobe beyond one bra (that had a bad memory associated with it). First it was a tank top or two. Then a pair of yoga pants. Then a skirt. Then an ALL PINK outfit that, did in fact, look like pepto-bismol. I don't know why I didn't notice that in the store. Luckily, I've dropped a few pounds, so the pants don't really fit all that well anymore.
Comment on "The Origin of PinkGeek"
Related Posts:
familyjmx
posted 4 days ago
| views: 11
|
When anybody is buying baby toys it can be overwhelming, this is because there are so many to choose from. Baby toys should keep your baby amused and also provide some educational factors.... read entire post
familyjmx
posted 4 days ago
| views: 14
|
Sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch are the five senses and this is how babies learn. You should keep these senses in mind when you are buying baby toys, the baby toy you are considering should...... read entire post
beautiful_curse
posted 7 days ago
| views: 10
|
im here. thanks 4 having me. i hope 2 share my innermost thoughts and feelings with u. no judgment. no response necessary, although they r more than welcome. share my world. u may enter.... read entire post