When Did Pink and Blue Become Gender-Specific?

With the advent of gender reveal parties and the clearly divided sections in toy stores, you might have wondered at one point when the notion that pink is for girls and blue is for boys ever developed. Or maybe that thought never crossed your mind because it’s been ingrained into the fabric of society for as long as you can recall.

I myself internalized this presumption as a child and vividly remember denouncing my love for the color blue in place of the color pink. When I think back to that time, I had no good reason to reject blue. I only did so because I felt like I was too much of a tomboy. I loved climbing the monkey bars and getting rowdy. I felt embarrassed I wasn't girly enough. I felt like I didn't fit in. So I remember telling everyone my new favorite color was pink. I heard that it was such a pretty color and in my mind, liking a color deemed pretty by society made me feel like I was prettier too. I didn’t know how insidious that line of thought was at the tender age of 7, but I know now. I was absorbing society’s expectations without even thinking about the validity of my beliefs. Now that I am older and less prone to blindly following popular opinion, I’ve reexamined these ridiculous notions and uncovered the history behind them.

Surprisingly, pink and blue weren't always associated with a specific gender. They were merely two of many pastel colors that were introduced into clothing in the 1800s. It wasn’t until 1918 that pink and blue were used to distinguish boy items from girl items. But it’s not what you think. You see, at the time, pink was actually decided to be a more masculine color. It was seen as a color that embodied strength and decisiveness, whereas blue was seen as a color that was more delicate.

The pink-and-blue switcheroo happened when people realized how close in similarity pink and red were. And since red was seen as a romantic and more “emotional” color, pink came to be associated with women instead. This idea was disputed for a short period during the women’s liberation movement, at the height of the emergence of feminist intellectualism. However, pushback didn’t last.

Unfortunately, after the invention of prenatal testing, the idea that pink was for girls and blue was for boys was once again reinforced. Retailers saw their opportunity to capitalize on this social norm, and feed into expecting parents’ desires to prepare for the birth of their baby girl or boy. Clothing, toys, and all sorts of products were once again sectioned off distinctly and marketed with the colors that we are so familiar with today.

The vast array of colors that we can see with the naked eye is magnificent, so it’s silly to continue assigning a higher value to 2 specific colors. If we think about it, blue and pink sound so dull in comparison to something like periwinkle. Color preferences vary across different profiles of people. Instead of putting boys and girls into boxes at such young ages, we should allow them to be free of influence from yet another societal pressure they will inevitably pick up on and let subtly invade their impressionable minds.

We don’t need boys to believe they have to wear blue, that they must be tough, and that they can’t show their feelings. Similarly, we don’t need young girls to believe they are strange if they don’t like pink, and that they shouldn’t stand up for themselves for fear of not being delicate and nurturing enough. Anyone can be anything, as long as they are themselves. Today, many families are already choosing not to uphold these gender expectations, but there’s still a lot of work we can do to continue building a more equitable society.

Knowing this piece of history flipped my world upside-down and gave me the critical eye I needed to reevaluate other unconscious beliefs I took at face value. The idea that colors can be gendered is both limiting and suffocating. There shouldn’t be an expectation placed on children to like one color over another, or to not be allowed to wear a certain color because that wouldn’t be proper. There should be freedom in expression, and liberation from outdated and binary ways of thinking.

Enforcing these old-fashioned gender norms is a sign of the past. Let your little girl play with her brother’s blue toy robot. Dress your newborn son in your daughter’s old, pink onesie. Paint the color of your baby’s room a warm yellow hue. Do yourself a favor and forego hosting a gender reveal party! Who knows, not only may that help you save some money, but it might also prevent the next forest fire.

Society has no need to assign roles or traits to unborn children. That just creates another era of upholding stereotypes and sexism, and we do not need that negativity in our lives. We can love blue, pink, green, purple—all the colors under the sun—no matter who we are.

And we can wear whatever we want too (no, really—boys wore dresses until they were 7 back then)! But...that’s another story.