illustration by Aleksandra Pekala

💕 Innocent, silly, sexual, empowering — all shades of pink. Part 2

Sexual connotations of pink

For more historical and cultural context on color pink, please read the previous article: Innocent, silly, sexual, empowering — all shades of pink. Part 1.

Connotations of pink color with romance are visible not only at every supermarket nearing Valentine's Day but also in linguistics. Take for example the Italian idioms letteratura rosa (‘pink literature’, i.e. romantic fiction) and scandalo rosa (‘pink scandal’, i.e. an extramarital affair that attracts public attention) (Philip, 2006). To understand the cultural connection between pink and sexuality, let’s look at what types of pink are used widely in visual communication.

We can often spot a shade of ‘shocking’ pink being perceived as positive, exuberant, adventurous, but also vulgar and garish, in contrast to the ‘subtle and tender’ effect of pastel, light pinks. The lab-generated magenta is often perceived as artificial, garish, aggressive, and ‘in your face.’ This quality is enhanced by the flat, untextured modulation of pink in many objects, which therefore include an ‘abstract’ pink not usually found in natural objects. It may be the dark, saturated, and ‘flat,’ non-textured pink, with its ‘exaggerated, aggressive tone [and] obvious exhibitionist intentions’ (Sassoon, 1990) that make for its association with sexuality, and especially with an “exaggerated image of feminine sexuality” (Sparke, 1995).

In patriarchal cultures, sexuality is mostly defined by a heterosexual male perspective. It leads to the sexualization of women in language and popular culture, up to the point where females are determined almost exclusively as objects of sexual desire. This is particularly noticeable in Japanese culture, where pink not only signals the super-cute, kawaii girl culture of romantic mangas and Hello Kitty gadgets but also indicates sex work. There are also ‘Pink movies’ (ピンク映画, Pinku eiga), a genre of Japanese softcore pornographic theatrical films.

It comes as no surprise then to find those artifacts and visual texts often use pink to combine femininity and sexuality. This is most noticeable in visual communication targeted at women. The most famous example might be lingerie seller Victoria’s Secret, followed by women’s sex shops Sh! and Exclusively Eve that color-code their texts and product packaging in pink and purple. There must be a reason Sex and the City’s producers chose this hue for their title cards.

In 2018, Janelle Monáe picked up the pink thread with her music video for “Pynk,” taking the color-body connection to a more explicit level with striking labia-flower pants. As she sings lines such as “Boy it’s cool, if you got the blue / We got the pink”, the video showcases women sporting tighty-whities adorned with pink text proclaiming “I grab back” (a nod to Donald Trump’s 2005 comments and the pink pussy hats worn in protest after his election), gracefully swaying and dancing in a room draped in pink. Rather than viewing genitalia as something to dominate, these songs emphasize personal ownership and bodily autonomy, making a bold statement in favor of self-expression.

The music video to “Pynk” by Janelle Monáe showcases many vagina references

Pink dollar vs pink tax

Pink is not a particularly favored color. In one of the scientific studies, only 7.7 percent of informants, independent of cultural background, rated it as their favorite, while 10.1 percent named it as their least favorite. No men named pink as their favorite color, but one in five male informants gave it as their least favorite. Despite this cool reception, shades of pink are surprisingly ubiquitous as visual markers, and it is clear that the color is associated with femininity.

From Barbie dolls to girls’ clothing, flower bouquets for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day, and birthday cards for girls and women, consumer goods targeted at a female market are suffused with pink. These products are usually combined with rounded shapes and rather static perpendicular vectors. By contrast, male consumers are addressed with a range of angular blacks and blues combined with dynamic diagonal vectors, as evident in cosmetics packaging (Hardt-Mautner, 1994), toys (Caldas-Coulthard and Van Leeuwen, 2002), and magazine covers.

Many brands of contraceptive pills for women remain to be packaged in pink boxes. Many pills are also colored pink.

The gendered nature of pink is most obvious in the context of clothing. Colors on clothing are like secret codes in our society, helping categorize and position people (Pastoureau, 2004). Attempts at classifying and shaping identities are most vigorously pursued with children, adding to the clichéd but very much alive choice of pink clothing for little girls. The arbitrariness of this convention is betrayed by the fact that pink was the predominant color for little boys until around 1920. Pink and powder blue were used as lighter versions of red (the ‘masculine’ color of blood and fighting) and blue (the iconographic color of the Virgin Mary). Further on, the color blue consequently came to signify male professions, most notably the navy, rather than being an element of religious iconography.

Young boy in pink, American school of painting, c. 1840

One aim of gendering products is to attract the attention of female consumers so that they will buy the product for themselves or for their daughters and other girls. In 2005, JeongMee Yoon, a Korean photographer, captured her daughter in a sea of pink-tinted items. Yoon critiques the seemingly cute, plastic excess surrounding the girl as a result of the post-World War I effort by media giants and department stores to repackage pink as a feminine color.

The pink tax refers to the extra cost that women often have to pay for products marketed to them, such as razors and deodorant. According to a 2015 study conducted by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, there exists a substantial price disparity in similar items, ranging from less than a single percentage difference to a staggering 48 percent higher cost for comparable products. The findings revealed that women were consistently paying more for various everyday goods, including an average of 48 percent more for shampoo and conditioner, 15 percent more for shirts, 13 percent more for girls’ helmets and pads, 13 percent more for girls’ shirts, and 15 percent more for supports and braces, among other notable discrepancies.

It’s crucial to acknowledge that manufacturers employ different packaging and quality standards, making it challenging to discern whether the pink tax applies to a product you may be considering purchasing. The complex interplay of varied packaging and quality standards underscores the need for heightened awareness and consumer vigilance to address and combat the issue of gender-based pricing disparities.

Is pink empowering?

Pink’s association with femininity and sexuality has been heavily criticized for perpetuating gender norms and limiting individual expression, especially given the association between pink and frivolity has been heavily popularized by pop culture. Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, the persona of Paris Hilton, or the setting of Barbie Girl music video by band Aqua have all used color to tell a certain story. Some groups state their disapproval of the phenomena — a Hamburg-based association Pinkstinks targets the products, media, and marketing that prescribe heavily stereotyped and limiting roles to young girls. They say that producers of children’s toys have discovered even the youngest children as a target group. “Color-coding facilitates consumption”, Stevie Schmiedel says.

However, some argue that the color can be reclaimed and used as a tool for empowerment. There seems to be a tendency to reclaim pink and redefine it as the color of women who regard themselves as having achieved equality in social and economic terms and are therefore able to embrace pink as a marker of their femininity.

While such post-feminist thinking rests on a faulty base, pink is used to communicate fun and independence, financial and professional power without conforming to masculine norms, as well as femininity and self-confidence. Closely linked to consumerism, post-feminism sees the empowerment of women as a positive value but seeks to set itself apart from malicious stereotypes of feminists as humorless and taking themselves way too seriously (Lazar, 2006).

In fashion, pink is being reimagined as a gender-neutral color, with designers incorporating it into menswear collections and challenging traditional gender roles.

For years, male tennis players worldwide have confidently embraced pink on the tour. Harry Styles has not only worn the pink color but has also chosen clothing that challenges traditional gender norms. Daniel Craig made a deliberate statement by donning a pink jacket at the premiere of his last James Bond film, capping off a media tour during which he openly criticized the character’s misogyny. In the world of K-Pop, several all-male groups, have opted for pink as their color of choice. The streets outside men’s fashion week in Milan last year were evidently awash with pink, making it an unavoidable and prominent presence.

These choices often create a ripple effect, particularly influencing younger generations. On TikTok, younger men are gravitating towards conventional symbols of femininity, embracing everything from pink to pearl chokers and vibrant nail colors. The trend has become so widespread that men’s magazines are now suggesting the best pearl necklaces for men. Notably, even professional baseball players have hopped on the trend, proudly donning pearls.

Gender fluidity challenges traditional notions of gender, and nothing brings gender into the fashion conversation faster than the color pink. The new pink is not necessarily straightforwardly pretty but definitely challenges assumptions about what femininity should look like.

Photo by Anna Shvets