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When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#51

Post by ars »

mjn wrote: post #32
mc32 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While boys and girls wore "dresses" till about age 6 or 7, till they were breached[1], they carried gender markers --at least in the upper classes. The clothes were not interchanged. The styles were different and people of the time would be able to identify the gender. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeching_(boys)

Two differences, fwiw: 1. Boys more often had square collars. For example, if you look at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_children_of_Charl... , the girl on the left has a rounded collar, while the boy 2nd-from-left has a squared-off collar. 2. Boys sometimes wore bands ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bands_(neckwear) ). Due to their frequent use of lace they often are perceived as feminine today, but were…

Both of those gender markers look like they would be easy to alter with a bit of sewing, so the idea that clothing is gender neutral to make reuse easier still stands.

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#52

Post by tod222 »

RodericDay wrote: post #8
ronnier wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that it was very rare but because of agendas, it'll be played up and mentioned to seem as though it was more common than it actually was. Just me guessing... knowing nothing about the subject.

isn't this a nice example of healthy, unbiased skepticism? lmao. "agendas".

No, the commenter admits to "knowing nothing about the subject."

To be credible, a skeptic can't be ignorant.

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#53

Post by moocowduckquack »

ars wrote: post #50
Dylan16807 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"How old are they?" "When did you have them?" "Are they a boy or a girl?" "They are adorable." Those sentences sound completely normal and grammatical to me.

> Those sentences sound completely normal and grammatical to me. Only if you are talking about more than one person. If you are talking about a single person those sentences sound bizarre.

'They' is fine as a singular, for instance the person that you have just replied to, they say that you are completely wrong, and I agree with them. See?

Look up the "epicene they".

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#54

Post by moocowduckquack »

chipsy wrote: post #16
neeee wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "they" is preferred over "it", and not rude at all.

When pronoun is unknown, "they" is the common choice. At queer conferences it is becoming the practice to include preferred pronouns on your name tag.

I demand to be formally addressed as the Wizard of Speed and Time.

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#55

Post by moocowduckquack »

ronnier wrote: post #6
ams6110 wrote: post #2

Never heard that dresses were gender-neutral for small children in the 19th century. Seems I've seen plenty of old photographs that show boys wearing traditionally "masculine" clothing, though commonly with short pants, transitioning to long pants during adolescence.

My guess is that it was very rare but because of agendas, it'll be played up and mentioned to seem as though it was more common than it actually was. Just me guessing... knowing nothing about the subject.

Well, if we are playing that game, I think it was a plot to hide the fact that we were being invaded by a race of alien dwarves and having a common dress for everyone below a certain height was their method of avoiding detection... knowing nothing about the subject.

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#56

Post by moocowduckquack »

endtime wrote: post #36
Dewie wrote: post #24

It is interesting that some social conservatives (or maybe just non-liberals?) care about consciously enforcing gender roles through clothing. This would seem to imply that they are similar in their beliefs with feminists when it comes to the nature/nurture question: that gender is enforced through culture. But this is usually thought of as a very liberal idea (or whatever I should call it). Pink as an effeminate col…

Sorry to be crude, but there is a very non-arbitrary reason for pink to be associated with females (and to a lesser extent, blue with males). In fact I always assumed this was indeed the cause for the association - I'm very surprised to learn it used to be reversed.

If a man's crude bits have gone blue then they should probably seek urgent medical attention.

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#58

Post by auctiontheory »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #14
ronnier wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that it was very rare but because of agendas, it'll be played up and mentioned to seem as though it was more common than it actually was. Just me guessing... knowing nothing about the subject.

Yes, you don't know. This isn't a matter of opinion or guessing; its a matter of established fact, with lots of written and photographic documentation. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan supposedly said: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." You add nothing to a rational discussion with nasty slander.

Fantastic quote - I'm going to use that.

Re: When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?

#60

Post by moocowduckquack »

auctiontheory wrote: post #59

It's only within the last few Presidential election cycles that the Republicans have become "red" and the Democrats "blue," which is the opposite of what you might expect. What has "always" been true usually has very definite origins, sometimes quite recent.

Am now just waiting for the GOP to adopt the red flag as a symbol and then the great circle of irony will be complete.
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