It's a boy!
Pink – or should I say light red – was a boy’s color. The lighter, daintier blue was for girls (and the Virgin Mary). Nowadays pink is so synonymous with girly that it is hard to imagine it being any other way. In reality pink wasn’t established as a feminine color until the 1950s.
Here are a few quotes from popular publications circa 1910 dispensing fashion advice…
“The Sunday Sentinal” wrote on March 29, 1914,
“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.”
Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department, June, 1918,
“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 color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”
This advice was extremely relevant because gender specific clothing was just starting to become popular around this time. Gender specific clothing took the form of pink, blue and dressing as mini adults (skirts like mommies and pants like daddies). Children commonly wore skirts, dresses, and other generally gender neutral clothing until the 1900s.
baby boy in carriage with toy horse
Photo credit: handmaidenbymaria on Flickr, Library of Congress
My name is Kelly Seiler. I'm an electrical engineer working in the defense industry. I realized that there was an undercurrent of sexism present at work... no one person or attitude seemed to be the culprit. I've decided to learn more about feminism to help me better combat sexism without damaging my reputation. I consider myself an undercover feminist. I'm a feminist, but I avoid pointing things out directly.
An excellent feminist primer! At 118 pages this one is a quick read, but still jam packed with information. It will change your perspective about what feminism is really about compared to the mass media portrayal.
While not a strictly feminist read, this books has lots of good tips to consider in an office environment.
The Bromance of Bert and Ernie
This is a man centered post, which might seem silly on a feminist blog, but sexism hurts men too.
This to me is a sad reflection on our society. People look at two male characters who spend a lot of time alone together and they think – there is no way they could be just friends, no two men are that close. There have been a multitude of terms developed to deal with men sharing affection designed to let them keep their masculinity. As if men loose their masculinity when they hug another man. That’s like saying a woman looses her femininity when she plays a competitive sport and shows up to win.
Bromance
There is a whole series of terms developed to describe male intimacy (emotional closeness), the most popular of which is bromance. According to urban dictionary, bromance “Describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.” (as if all relationships aren’t complicated). Another term, bromantic, really gets to the heart of the matter with “Bromantic (adjective); not necessarily homosexual, yet still just a little too much love goin’ on between guys.” This definition is outvoted by the less homophobic one “Displays of affection between two heterosexual men.” Wikipedia has a good article on bromance which gets into the emotionally isolating nature of traditional views of masculinity and how visible homosexuality in society has made it less socially acceptable for two men to show affection. Watch out, you might loose your man card!
The Man Hug
There is a whole post on the Art of Manliness dedicated to the man hug. Walking the line between showing affection for those close to you and still remaining manly is a ridiculous double standard. Manly in this case seems to be described as preventing any hit of gay-ness. The procedure for man hugging seems oddly specific: 1. handshake 2. initiate hug 3. slap twice 4. let go. There was a lot of discussion in the comments about the proper number of slaps. Apparently 3 slaps is too try-hard. One slap might be confused for a too enthusiastic embrace.
Platonic Male Intimacy Exists
Men who share close friendships exist all around us. While it may seem that only women can be close to others in this way, that is simply untrue. Studies have found that men with close male friendships live longer and are happier. Take note though, casual hang out friends won’t cut it.
Take a risk on a deeper friendship… you might be pleasantly surprised.