That Colour Pink.
( I read this wonderful article about how this mother named Martine Zoer (big holler!) is taking down gender stereotypes by not discouraging her young boys from wearing pink. It was such a heartwarming gesture that it compelled me to look at how we treat our boys/men in the society. I don't care how extreme and black and white this sounds; but I have so much to say about this issue that if I begin to write an essay about it- it would take me an eon and I'd end up with a book on 'Society and its Shitty Taboos'.
Societal pressures murder the self and it's need to breathe- and this mostly starts at home; so this one is to Martine Zoer, this kickass parent who hmm, doesn't do this!)
"I want that doll," he screamed,
"You want a toy, boy. Not a 'doll'," he hissed,
"But she's so pretty. Like Mama-"
One resounding slap,
One aisle full of smirks,
One moment of heartbreak,
One flare of angry embarrassment.
"I want to go to dance class," he glared,
"You want to dance in a ring, boy. Not in a ballroom," he glowered,
"They both require sweat and bruises. I don't-"
Two echoing punches,
Two windows closed,
Two minutes of unspilt tears,
Two breaths of righteous temperament.
"I'd like the shirt ironed,please. And oh, could I get it in pink?"
"Pink?! Eesh. Why would you choose pink of all colours. Choose-here!I like blue, take this!" she chirped,
"I like pink."
Three words of hysteria from her,
Two lines of euphoria for him,
One billboard above,
One tagline beneath-
"Pink is just a colour"
A Personal Note:
1. I don't understand this double standard of females being allowed to be 'tom-boys' (and I don't understand the term- Tom is a boy, so what exactly is that conjunct for in terms of describing a girl?) but an effeminate man is just..classified as everythingthatthey'repossiblynot.
I. don't. get. it.
2. If girls can choose 'manly' colours like blue/black, for example,(And really, are colours genderized too?) , so..why are men limited to not choosing other vibrant colours?
It doesn't make him gay. If you think that's what makes him 'gay', I don't think you know what being gay is and therefore, don't even know how to discriminate(and ridicule), if that's what you're going for (that makes you stupid in addition to being a homophobe- neither of them are doing much for your personality. Just saying.)
Also,the Pink Panther is male. And pink. And the Smurfette is an '-ette' (get?).
And oh, she's blue.
3. Looking clean, crisp and liking beautiful things- which involve yes, dancing- does not make him less manly.
Say, this man loved you. Safe to say you're beautiful, no?
No? You must have gotten a 'manly' man then. Tough luck!
4. This is gender. It is society made. You make this society.
It's a necessary evil, this society, but ooh (hushed whisper) we can bring down the 'evil'.
You see we've already created High School for that.
Time to get out of it.
Brothers, you look great in pink. My first crush was so bloody good-looking in pink that I had to tell myself that it was only the hormones that made him look cuter than normal. Wait. Bad analogy-my crush was supposed to look cuter than normal to me and my hormones. Well, my hormones were supposed to be most functional.
Huh.
But, back to what I was trying to get at.
Really. Wear orange, yellow, blue, neon, pink, neon pink - wear anything you like, choose any colour you like and if 'people' tell you anything, pretend you are a part of 'Where the Wild Things Are' (if you feel like you belong there, life mission accomplished. Really.)
And oh, Moms and girls? You like pink. C'mon!
Man up (?) - Dads and boys? You too.
#freetowearpink
Societal pressures murder the self and it's need to breathe- and this mostly starts at home; so this one is to Martine Zoer, this kickass parent who hmm, doesn't do this!)
"I want that doll," he screamed,
"You want a toy, boy. Not a 'doll'," he hissed,
"But she's so pretty. Like Mama-"
One resounding slap,
One aisle full of smirks,
One moment of heartbreak,
One flare of angry embarrassment.
"I want to go to dance class," he glared,
"You want to dance in a ring, boy. Not in a ballroom," he glowered,
"They both require sweat and bruises. I don't-"
Two echoing punches,
Two windows closed,
Two minutes of unspilt tears,
Two breaths of righteous temperament.
"I'd like the shirt ironed,please. And oh, could I get it in pink?"
"Pink?! Eesh. Why would you choose pink of all colours. Choose-here!I like blue, take this!" she chirped,
"I like pink."
Three words of hysteria from her,
Two lines of euphoria for him,
One billboard above,
One tagline beneath-
"Pink is just a colour"
A Personal Note:
1. I don't understand this double standard of females being allowed to be 'tom-boys' (and I don't understand the term- Tom is a boy, so what exactly is that conjunct for in terms of describing a girl?) but an effeminate man is just..classified as everythingthatthey'repossiblynot.
I. don't. get. it.
2. If girls can choose 'manly' colours like blue/black, for example,(And really, are colours genderized too?) , so..why are men limited to not choosing other vibrant colours?
It doesn't make him gay. If you think that's what makes him 'gay', I don't think you know what being gay is and therefore, don't even know how to discriminate(and ridicule), if that's what you're going for (that makes you stupid in addition to being a homophobe- neither of them are doing much for your personality. Just saying.)
Also,the Pink Panther is male. And pink. And the Smurfette is an '-ette' (get?).
And oh, she's blue.
3. Looking clean, crisp and liking beautiful things- which involve yes, dancing- does not make him less manly.
Say, this man loved you. Safe to say you're beautiful, no?
No? You must have gotten a 'manly' man then. Tough luck!
4. This is gender. It is society made. You make this society.
It's a necessary evil, this society, but ooh (hushed whisper) we can bring down the 'evil'.
You see we've already created High School for that.
Time to get out of it.
Brothers, you look great in pink. My first crush was so bloody good-looking in pink that I had to tell myself that it was only the hormones that made him look cuter than normal. Wait. Bad analogy-my crush was supposed to look cuter than normal to me and my hormones. Well, my hormones were supposed to be most functional.
Huh.
But, back to what I was trying to get at.
Really. Wear orange, yellow, blue, neon, pink, neon pink - wear anything you like, choose any colour you like and if 'people' tell you anything, pretend you are a part of 'Where the Wild Things Are' (if you feel like you belong there, life mission accomplished. Really.)
And oh, Moms and girls? You like pink. C'mon!
Man up (?) - Dads and boys? You too.
#freetowearpink
How free can a man really be..
ReplyDeleteSociety catches up.. eventually!
Last lines- I repeat :)
ReplyDeleteIf not wearing pink is commercial organizations telling us what not to do, I don't see how subscribing to Quirkie Kids is not non-conformist organizations telling us what to do!
ReplyDeleteI had to re-read that for..nevermind- I'm dumb. I can only see 'not' everywhere -_-
ReplyDeleteI don't think commercial organizations are telling you not to wear pink- no, I don't think so at all coz for a fact they do advertise and it sells well amongst a more , how do I put it? A 'comfortable-in-his-skin' man.
But that's not the point here.
Since there are so many double-negatives which have me kinda flummoxed, I,er,..don't understand your point?
Back in the days when ladies had a home journal (in 1918) the Ladies' Home Journal wrote: "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."
ReplyDeleteAnd 3 decades later, everything changed. Most people cite this when they argue about the power corporations have on our lives. And perception.
I'm just saying if corporations did socially condition us to not like pink, aren't non-conformist doing the same by asking us to buy pink.
My point is: making kids wear pink Tees and saying that 'Dads too shall wear pink to support the boys' is socially conditioning us to be rebels and to confirm to the norm fixed by the non-conformist.
True freedom is... Non existent. ^_^