Living on the pink side

Every girl loves pink. Is it a stereotype or really true? When a woman gives birth to a baby girl most of the presents and congratulation cards are in pink. The girl gets pink dresses, skirts, ribbons, plush toys and so on. Girls live in a pink room, sleep in a pink bed. Okay, not all of them, and luckily I had a white room without any pink when I was a kid. But why is pink the girl color? Why is the first thing we think of when we hear the word pink little girl's stuff? Okay some might think of the singer, but for the most I guess it's girl's stuff.

The meaning of the color pink is unconditional love and nurturing.

There are so many colors which are all neither male nor female, except light blue for boys and pink for girls. When you go to a toy store and look for girl's stuff, you get a pink shock: everywhere you look it's all pink. Mostly Barbie dolls. But why do girls love Barbie? Almost every little girl plays with that doll. I was one of them who couldn't have enough. And girls do not only want the dolls; they also want the dresses, cars, houses, horses. Barbie has everything, a beautiful, perfect life in a pink girl's bubble.

Is pink a typical girl color?
picture by tanakawho

What would a girl do if she could be one of Barbie's friends and live with her on the pink side? Such a dream can come true in the Dreamhouse which is permanently in Sunrise, Florida, but also touring through Europe. This week Barbie Dreamhouse opened in German capital Berlin and will remain until August 25. But not everyone loves this pink dream. Some protested against the house, against Barbie. According to them the doll is the reason why many girl's don't like their bodies and have an unhealthy beauty obsession. 

“Fewer and fewer girls feel comfortable in their own skin, with eating disorders having increased drastically because of figures like Barbie,” Stevie Schmiedel from the “Pink Stinks” Initiative said as quoted by SAPA.

But is it only that doll that let girls think they only have to look good to become popular and special? Is it only that doll that shows them to be extra thin? I doubt that. It's also the whole Hollywood life shown on TV that gives the impression of size 0 is a good thing. Celebrities have to look just perfect, but even they only look 'perfect' thanks to Photoshop. So is it really the doll which created the picture of a little girl who likes everything pink? Can it be blamed for the whole thing? Why do girls admire Barbie? Because of her look? Because of everything is pink?

Back in the 1920s pink was a male color due to its close associations with red. Until the 1940s blue was seen more dainty and so the girls color. But then it changed. Since then the color pink represents compassion, nurturing and love. It relates to unconditional love and understanding, and the giving and receiving of nurturing.

Do you think pink is a girl color or is it mostly because of Barbie? Do girls really like that color or did they just get used to it because their parents gave them many pink stuff and so even later they feel more comfortable with everything pink? And do girls really wanna look like Barbie? Does she represent all the typical girl stereotypes?

Video from Barbie Life in a Dreamhouse

Sources: 

Full definition of the color pink: http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-pink.html

More on the Barbie Dreamhouse: http://barbiedreamhouse.com/

Watch a video of the Barbie Dreamhouse in Sunrise, Fla: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21010592065957/barbie-dreamhouse-experience-opens-at-sawgrass/#ixzz2TBQrELqO