Morgan BellPink is for Girls - Blue is for Boys
November 24th 2008 21:14
The Pink and Blue Project
"This project began with my daughter. My five-year-old daughter loves pink. She wants to wear only pink clothes and only own pink toys and objects. My daughter is not unusual. Most other little girls in the United States and South Korea love pink clothing, accessories and toys. This phenomenon seems widespread among various ethnic groups of children regardless of their cultural backgrounds. This preference is the result of cultural influences and the power of pervasive commercial advertisements such as those for Barbie and Hello Kitty. Through advertising, customers are directed to buy blue items for boys and pink for girls. Blue has become a symbol of strength and masculinity, while pink symbolizes sweetness and femininity.
To make The Pink and Blue Project series, I visited children’s rooms, where I displayed their possessions in an effort to show the viewer the extent to which children and their parents, knowingly or unknowing, are influenced by advertising and popular culture."
JeongMee Yoon
In her latest photographic series (2006), Yoon uses her mischievous sense of humour and characteristic curiosity, to entice the viewer into an exploration of society’s fascination with the collection of objects. Her enchanting portraits of young boys and girls proudly displaying their personal treasures, raises uneasy questions about freedom of choice and identity in contemporary society.
JeongMee uses a 6x6 Hasselblad camera, with the smallest aperture, f-22, in order to make sure all objects within the frame, appear in sharp focus, as in a painting. Five to eight rolls of films are used in each photo session, while the definitive image is chosen among the sixty to ninety resulting proofs. Globe diffused lighting is used in order to flash all the articles in a small room evenly.
"When I take pictures, I begin the photographic session by arranging the larger items blankets and coats, and then spread the smaller articles on the bed and floor… This method shows my organization of subjects similar to the way in which museums categorize their inventories and display their collections."
JeongMee Yoon
JeongMee Yoon was born in South Korea in 1969 and moved to New York City in 2004.
"This project began with my daughter. My five-year-old daughter loves pink. She wants to wear only pink clothes and only own pink toys and objects. My daughter is not unusual. Most other little girls in the United States and South Korea love pink clothing, accessories and toys. This phenomenon seems widespread among various ethnic groups of children regardless of their cultural backgrounds. This preference is the result of cultural influences and the power of pervasive commercial advertisements such as those for Barbie and Hello Kitty. Through advertising, customers are directed to buy blue items for boys and pink for girls. Blue has become a symbol of strength and masculinity, while pink symbolizes sweetness and femininity.
To make The Pink and Blue Project series, I visited children’s rooms, where I displayed their possessions in an effort to show the viewer the extent to which children and their parents, knowingly or unknowing, are influenced by advertising and popular culture."
JeongMee Yoon
In her latest photographic series (2006), Yoon uses her mischievous sense of humour and characteristic curiosity, to entice the viewer into an exploration of society’s fascination with the collection of objects. Her enchanting portraits of young boys and girls proudly displaying their personal treasures, raises uneasy questions about freedom of choice and identity in contemporary society.
JeongMee uses a 6x6 Hasselblad camera, with the smallest aperture, f-22, in order to make sure all objects within the frame, appear in sharp focus, as in a painting. Five to eight rolls of films are used in each photo session, while the definitive image is chosen among the sixty to ninety resulting proofs. Globe diffused lighting is used in order to flash all the articles in a small room evenly.
"When I take pictures, I begin the photographic session by arranging the larger items blankets and coats, and then spread the smaller articles on the bed and floor… This method shows my organization of subjects similar to the way in which museums categorize their inventories and display their collections."
JeongMee Yoon
JeongMee Yoon was born in South Korea in 1969 and moved to New York City in 2004.
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Comment by The Rusty Can
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loved the pictures - thanks Morgan
Comment by Morgan Bell
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oh i know, its hard to believe these kids can even fit in their rooms with all this stuff!
to be fair, shes laying out alot of clothing and bedding, and spreading things out into one layer . . . but it is still quite a bit for such a little person!
thanks for the comment!
Comment by alt_ed
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In fact, this reversal of what we consider "normal" was considered conventional, even in the early 20th century.
"At one point pink was considered more of a boy's colour, (as a watered-down red, which is a fierce colour) and blue was more for girls. The associate of pink with bold, dramatic red clearly affected its use for boys. An American newspaper in 1914 advised mothers, "If you like the color note on the little one's garments, use pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention."
[The Sunday Sentinal, March 29, 1914.]
"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger colour is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty,
is prettier for the girl."
[Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918] Really Long Link - "Gender Specific Colors"
According to Jo B. Paoletti and Carol Kregloh, "The Children's Department," in Claudia Brush Kidwell and Valerie Steele, ed., Men and Women: Dressing the Part, (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989). - In the United States: "The current pink for girls and blue for boys wasn't uniform until the 1950's.
It would also seem that Nazi Germany had something to do with the association of pink with femininity:
"Catholic traditions in Germany and neighbouring countries reverse the current colour coding, because of the strong association of blue with the Virgin Mary...the NAZIs in their concentration camps use a pink triangle to identify homosexuals. (The yellow star of David is the best known symbol, used of course to identify Jews. The German system was quite complicated, using various symbols an colours to identify criminals, political prisoners, an a whole range of other groups). The NAZI's choice of pink suggests that it by the 1930s was a colour that in Germany had become associate with girls." - "Gender Specific Colours"
Here is another site backing the same colour history.
"The preferred colour to dress young boys in was pink! Blue was reserved for girls as it was considered the paler, more dainty of the two colours, and pink was thought to be the stronger (akin to red). It was not until WWII that the colours were reversed and pink was used for girls and blue for boys..." - Quote from Dress Maker Magazine Really Long Link
"Jo B. Paoletti concludes that the effect of colour-coded gender differences (pink for girls, blue for boys) existed oppositely initially..." - Quote from book review "The Material Culture of Gender, the Gender of Material Culture" - Winterthur, Del.: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1997 - From the Journal of American History - Please note that this is a cached page as the current page is different: http://tinyurl.com/iy31
While there are also myths and legends supporting both or either colour for gender identification, those resources dealing with straight history date the identification of pink with femininity to the period of World War II or later.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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thanks for all the info - i didnt realise they used to be reversed!
oh and im glad you managed to mention some Nazis!
in my lifetime ive only ever known it as pink for girls and blue for boys, but i guess a hundred years ago was a different story!
Comment by alt_ed
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Comment by Norm
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Comment by alt_ed
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WELL, we wont stand for this sort of torrid battery even if you're e-norm-ous... it's just not worth the drips.
Now take this jar of mustard and go frisk yourself!!! Bastard!
Comment by Norm
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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evil cretins?
tsk tsk
where is the love?
Comment by Norm
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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Norm, here you go:
(ive always got a few spare)
Comment by Norm
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by alt_ed
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