If today was sometime between the 1920 and 1940, the above title would be appropriate, and taken with pride by the seemingly superior masculine group in the human race. In the 21st century, pink is for girls, and is accepted by most, if not, all as such.
A week ago, I took a ride to down town Port Moresby. This small part of Port Moresby, located between Paga and Togoba Hills, probably contained most of the few tall skyscrapers in the country. Walking along the streets, amidst their towering heights, I felt like an ant. Yet I walked into the ground floor of one of the towers, the Mogoru Motu building along Champion Parade.
I made my purchases at Meddent, the company that sells medical and dental equipments. The beautiful girl that served me placed my items in a small shopping bag, and handed it over to me. I smiled a word of thanks to her and walked out. As soon as the door closed behind me, I quickly forced the shopping bag into the bilum that I was carrying. I’d rather be seen without the bag, because it’s coloured pink!
An article published in 1918 stated that "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." (From Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia). After 1940, the norm changed, and remained thus into the 21st century.
Today, the color pink is symbolically used to promote, or represent ideas that are generally feminine. A pink ribbon is used as an international symbol for breast cancer awareness. In the West, a pink-collar worker is someone who does the job conventionally regarded as women’s job. Code Pink is an American activist women’s group, who use pink as their main colour.
Pink is also the colour used more often in sexuality than any other field. Pink News is a leading gay newspaper and online news service. Pink TV is a French cable channel for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community, whose spending power is also call pink dollar or Pink Money. Prisoners accused of homosexuality under the Nazi rule were forced to wear a pink triangle. The Pink Pistols are a gay gun rights organisation. Pink Movies refer to Japanese porn films.
Apart from representing femininity, it is used in other aspects too. It is referred to as the ‘colour of love’, being used for Valentine’s Day and Easter. Traditionally in academics, pink is used to represent Medicine and other health-related field. Student from the School of Medicine and Health Science in UPNG will find themselves wearing a gown with pink stripe or ribbon on graduation day.
Come to think of it, seriously, it’s just a colour, yet one that distinguishes, if not, segregates gender. Is it possible that the way the colour pink is perceived also contribute to gender inequality issues in PNG? Maybe, or maybe not, I leave it to your speculation. I just find it interesting that males are scared to hell to walk around with anything that is coloured pink.
Hopefully, one day the attitude will change such that pink will be seen truly as the colour of love for women. Males will wear pink every day, making each day a special Valentine’s Day to their lady spouse. Violence against Women will find a place to exist in the society as it is replace by Love for Women.
Maybe, let’s think about pink as the colour of uniting love, and not a segregating colour for gender. Not Pink for Girls, or Pink for Boys, but Pink for Love!
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