Talk:Gendered associations of pink and blue

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 August 2021 and 10 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Breakfast4dinner.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 21:41, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

When did it start?

The question of when the "pink-for-girls, blue-for-boys" actually began, is unclear. There are some sources that claim that this only really became widespread after World War II, and that early in the century it was the other way round. Others refer to that same theory, and say that it is mostly urban legend.

References to pink for women or girls in the nineteenth century in Europe can be easily found—this is currently reflected in the first paragraph of the #Clothing section, with seven references. However, these are cherry-picked sources, and it may well be that they are unrepresentative because it's possible there are twice as many references for blue for women during that period. So this all needs to be sorted out, and reflected in the article. Paoletti's conclusion of a gradual change from 1860 to the 1950s seems the most well-researched. Mathglot (talk) 01:16, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Marco Del Guidice has done some pretty authoritative-looking research as well, and calls out some of the somewhat sloppy acceptance of the "pink-blue reversal theory" by other academic sources that should have known better. It was never really "the other way round"; that's more or less of an urban legend, from what I can glean at this point. There was some inconsistency over a long period, but it was never predominantly "pink is for boys", followed by a reversal at some point; that didn't happen. At least, that's how I see it now. Mathglot (talk) 06:37, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

Single source

CycoMa nice to see you at the article, but how about improving it, instead of engaging in drive-by tagging? It's a little silly to place a {{One source}} template on a section that has two sentences. It's more intended for something like Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, Coast Guard Aviation Association, or Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas. Also, when you tag something, you should really start a talk page section, unless it's blindingly obvious. Given that this article has only been in mainspace for one day, it seems premature. Anyway, how bout helping expand it, instead? Mathglot (talk) 06:34, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

Mathglot I don’t really have much interest in the sociological side of gender. I just like putting tags in areas that lack sources or need fixing.CycoMa (talk) 06:37, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

CycoMa okay, you can do whatever you think is useful. I'll leave the tag up, because it doesn't really hurt anything. Happy editing. Mathglot (talk) 06:42, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

Mathglot also have you tried researching on whether or not pink was originally a boy’s color? I remember stumbling upon a source that said pink was originally a boy’s color but I can’t remember where I got that claim from.

Who wait I think I found it right here. what do you think? CycoMa (talk) 06:47, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

Who wait I see it in the article.CycoMa (talk) 06:50, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

@CycoMa:, it probably never was for boys, although there was a time when there was inconsistent usage, and any infant could wear whatever color. See the section on #Pink-blue reversal, which has a lot of room for expansion based on the two Del Guidice articles. But "pink as boy's color" seems most likely to be a misinterpretation of what actually happened. Mathglot (talk) 07:18, June 5, 2021 (UTC)

Pink triangle

I've been looking at the history of the Pink triangle as used by Nazi Germany to identify gay and other LGBT prisoners in POW camps during World War II, and trying to decide if it has a place in this article. If so, part of that story is how it was reclaimed in the 1970s and 80s by ACT UP and for LGBT Pride. Mathglot (talk) 19:28, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

Gallery

Some images that might be able to go into the article.

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  Infante Carlos María of Spain
• File:Lucky Boys.jpg
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  Renoir – The Cahen d'Anvers Girls

Consumer products

I'd think that this article should cover such things as razors colored pink and other pastel colors, and for that matter tools. (see Carol Colatrella book in bibliography) And it's not just pink, but also purple and sparkles that seem to be associated with girls. --Macrakis (talk) 20:32, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

For that matter, pistols, and even assault rifles, are available in pink designs. Mathglot (talk) 21:50, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

Wikipedia Project for Class

I'm researching more information related to the color blue being associated with boys to add to this page under the reactions section. Breakfast4dinner (talk) 16:43, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

@Breakfast4dinner:, welcome, and thanks for your addition to the Reactions section. Remember to source all assertions of fact, I had to drop your concluding sentence because of that omission. (You can put it back again, accompanied by proper citations.) Also, encyclopedia articles are not essays, so expressions like "It is clear that... [+ some conclusion or observation]" are not appropriate here. Our role is simply to read the reliable sources on a topic, and come up with a narrative in our own words that summarizes what they say about it, in due proportion to the majority and minority views among sources, if they differ. We don't conclude, analyze, review, synthesize, opine, or comment on any of it (like you might if you wanted an A on a paper at school); we just summarize and cite, full stop. Hope this helps, and good luck with your course! If you have any questions, feel free to ask your Wiki Ed contact person, User:Ian (Wiki Ed), or you can contact me on my Talk page. Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 20:48, 9 December 2021 (UTC)