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To live and enjoy every day to its fullest, use my gifts to help others, I travel to wherever passion finds me.

What Will She Paint?

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

NOT PINK?

Why is pink a "girl's" color and blue a boy's color? 
Have to admit that I don't know of any men who like pink...or is it something that boys learn?
I never liked pink until I painted the Pink Latebloomer flower of a few posts ago. 
Can't remember that I ever wore a pink dress when I was a child. Since my parents lived in Indonesia till they were in their forties, I wonder if it maybe a cultural thing for girls and women to like pink?

The strangest thing it that lately keep choosing Pink. When you have read my blog for a while, and see my paintings, you may gather that pink is not exactly my favorite color! 

As a contrast, as far as I remember I've always liked blue. In my younger years I liked Cerulean blue (lighter blue with a hint of green in it). Since I paint with oils, Ultramarine blue, which has a lot of red in it, has become one of my very favorite colors.
 
But...last year I bought a light pink sweater. and this year, I knitted the pink beret on the left (I don't know the translation for this what we in Dutch call "old-pink"). It seems more and more pinks start showing up in my wardrobe. Is it the American culture that has influenced me more than I know, or is it a matter of "growing old"?



While the snow still rules in many areas, I 'm fortunate to live near the equator, so last week I bought some colorful pink Hydrangia. Even a few years ago I would have passed this one by, solely because of the color (there were no other colors available when I was at the store).


A pink sunset? Hm, that would be okay, since  I don't have any control over the color of the sky! Also, it seldom is a hot pink. *

As long as I don't dream in pink...that would really be scary!




On Thursday, we'll be joining ringing the bell at 2 pm for cancer awareness with Barry (An Explorer's View of Life). I'll be ringing my little brass bell, previously mounted on the wall of my old house.  This will be the first time I'll be ringing it at my new house!

*Photo taken by Daan&Kirsten Schilperoort in Australia

29 comments:

Ebie said...

I also wondered about the colors too.

On the question about lodging in Death Valley, it is best to stay in the Furnace Creek area which is the center of all the spots. When we left the resort where we stayed were already booked till May.

It is beautiful out there.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Jeannette - my mother hated pink and never wore anything in that colour. I rather like it now that I am getting older. Whereas I used to wear white shirts I now find that pink ones are much more flattering. I bought the farmer a pink shirt - but he would not contemplate wearing it!

The Muse said...

how delightedly strange....!
for i could have written this post...
pink, in the past seemed too girly for me...i consider myself a strong woman...and pink was too much fluff...too femme. but now, with years passing, i find myself comfortable with ME...and oddly...pink has crept in...lol...
perhaps i have at long last embraced the female attributes of me :)

(still~you cannot beat a killer shade or red!) lol

Stephanie V said...

Until quite recently, I didn't like the color pink at all. My favorite colors were the primaries: red, yellow and blue. So, your idea of pink appreciation being a function of living longer on this planet (full of pinks) may be a good one. And there are so many, many shades of pink to play with. Old-pink is an evocative description...maybe what we call ash pink?

Irene said...

I think a bigger deal is made out of pink and blue for girls and boys in the States than it is here in the Netherlands. It seems a very cultural thing. I don't wear much pink, but I do like blue also, though I like navy blue, which goes well with gray, which is another color I like. I do like little splashes of other colors such as yellow and red and green, but in moderation. I always thought that pink was for older ladies, therefor the name "old rose." When I'm an old lady, I'm going to wear purple.

Zuzana said...

I have seen some men wearing pink, believe it or not. Mostly shirts and ties.;) Apparently that is fashion.;))
I agree though, blue is my preferred colour, although I do love dark pink and magenta.;)
LOVE the pink sunset! Interestingly, our sunsets are almost always orange or purple. But our sunrises are often pink.;))
xo
Zuzana

VioletSky said...

I've never been a fan of pink, either Especially not bubblegum or hot pink. The pinks that border on purple are okay. Though, when I look at some of things I own, I realize I have a lot more pink (or "dusty rose as it was known in the 80s) than I care to admit.
Turquoise, in all shades, has always been my favourite.

Clytie said...

I have grown-up twin girls. One adores everything pink and purple. Especially when paired with black. The other loves blues and greens. Neither was influenced by me, as I love all colors.

It will be interesting to see if their color preferences change now that they are "adults" (18 years old).

Jeannette StG said...

Ebie,
Thanks for the info. Looking at it, means it will be next year then LOL (because I want to come when everything is in bloom - probably in April?)

Weaver,
It's rather strange, but I don't even know if my mother had a favorite color!
I laughed as I was imagining the conversation between you two about his pink shirt. I kind of...got to....agree with your farmer -I just can't picture a farmer on a tractor with a pink shirt:)


Muse,
How interesting! Looking at your blog I did see the androgynous side of you, but I wouldn't have guessed you saw yourself as a strong woman (because that is how I am described by my colleagues)- so maybe we have some things in common. I probably have mellowed with the years, but I still can't stand it when women act too girly, or as a femme fatale.
A killer shade of red would be for me a dark red medium (almost a brick red):)


Stephanie,
I'm glad I wrote this post - I had not expected so many women disliking pink (at least in their younger years)!
You are right, in nature, so many flowers are some shade of pink. Thanks:Ash pink sounds good, or what someone else suggested: dusty rose.

Irene,
chuckle - really? Is that where oud rose comes from?
I agree, in no country but America seems is pink so popular with the women! Can't remember when those T-shirts with "When I'm old, I'm going to wear purple" came in. have you seen those?
I love purple, but my oldest daughter hates it. And oh my, her 2 daughters love it:)

Zuzanna,
I could see European men wear pink! (was it in Eur. that you saw pink shirts and ties?)Bright colors like magenta, red, purple look good on you (your profile pic for instance:) )
You got me thinking about the "sunset" -got to ask my cousin if it was a sunset...

Sanna,
Seems everyone who commented up till now, it's a certain kind of pink everyone flees from. Dusty rose is a good description for the color of the beret! Now I do have peach and coral shades in my closet.
I LOVE the greenish kind or turquoise - especially in beads!

Clytie,
You are a good mom, letting your twins develop their own taste in color!
That's very interesting - because they're identical twins I thought they would have similar taste in colors, like blue and turqouise, or red and orange...

Unknown said...

Sunsets have so much in them, but I think of ROSE, purples and oranges, not pink with sunsets. I fit into the "blue" category for a long time (and it was training), but my absolute favorite color is teal, tending to the green side of turquoise. Most of the women I know do not like pink, but rather purple.

rainfield61 said...

Pink is not a bad colour. It is a close relative to red. And red means prosperity to a Chinese.

crochet lady said...

It does seem strange that those particular colors are associated with either boys or girls. I wonder where that came from.

I like pink but tend to wear darker shades of it. Green is my favorite color.

Angie Muresan said...

I love pink, Jeannette. And my husband wears pink too. Mainly Lacoste shirts, but still...

Jeannette StG said...

Joey,
Sunsets: I guess you mean with rose the darker pink...I like teal very much -it makes me think of the sea and of the rock turquoise.
This post makes me realize that there a many women out there do not like pink!

Rainfield,
I like red, and because pink is a "watered down" red, I don't like it as much. Do you know that in the Western world red is the color of blood, explosion, anger, bold. So that may mean that the meaning of a color is cultural!

Jen,
May be those colors were once arbitrarily chosen for babies, and then it became a tradition? Who knows...
I like a light olive green very much, and a dark forest green. Bluish lavender looks good on me but my favorite color right now though is ultramarine blue.

Angie,
Having seen your photo on your blog, you probably look very good with pink! Wow, you're the first one who says her husband actually wears pink!

Rudee said...

I have to tell you, my husband has a beautiful pink shirt he wears on occasion. It looks fabulous against his complexion. It was his choice to buy the shirt and I love it.

For myself, I have very little pink, but I did knit an entire cardigan of pink boucle. I don't wear it often, but when I do, I like it.

Rudee said...

And darn it, I forgot to say that I love your beret!

Dick said...

Interesting subject, I don't like pink but for some things (like flowers) it's nice. I suppose it is a cultural thing that a girl likes pink a boy likes blue.
But this boy really likes blue the best of all colors especially the blue of the sky.

DawnTreader said...

I wouldn't decorate a room in pink colours (well, at least I never have so far!) but I wear it. Rarely "baby pink" but more like strong magenta colour. I also like purple and red. And blue of all nuances. (I like jeans.) And turqoise. I tend to wear warmer colours in the winter and more blueish in the summer. But I like earth colours too.

My mother I never saw in pink. Or purple. She usually wore blue (but never jeans).

DeniseinVA said...

A very interesting and enjoyable post. I like pink though I rarely ever buy clothes in that color, though I noticed a few made it into my wardrobe last year. I love pink in flowers and I do like your beret.

Jeannette StG said...

Rudee 2 times,
Thank you -it is the only one that fits me without having to majorly rearrange it when on my head LOL, but...I think they made a mistake on the pattern instructions - the cluster stitch, but mine didn't look like the pic -visited s few websites, where it looked like mine!
I was too impatient to get back to Red Heart, because I wanted to wear it before Spring:)
Oh I like boucle too!

You are only the 2nd who I heard of, whose husband actually wears pink!

Dick,
Hope you like this girl, because she loves blue (Ultramarine blue) too:)

Monika,
I like all the colors that you mentioned. In the summer I tend to wear a lot of white, or very pale colors (because the sun in California is so scorching) - it's asking for loads of laundry!but I don't mind.
My mother always wore neutral colors, so next to her I look flamboyant (although my friends don't describe me that way).
Actually the first thing we did in our new house was paint over the girly pink in one of the bedrooms.

Denise,
Your comment made we wonder if pink fits with certain character traits...Thank you Denise, I do like my beret, especially because it fits!

Mingfei said...

It is a interesting question. I don't like pink, too. But I love the pink sunset!

Jeannette StG said...

Mingfei,
Good to hear from you! Just now I wrote my post below about China:) (Did you see it?)
In China I didn't see many pale colors, except for white of course! So, I can imagine that you don't like pink:)

Cezar and Léia said...

Hello Jeannette
First of all your background is so beautiful, I loved it in green, so romantic!
Pink is always a colour that brings good energies in my life.I wish I could know how to knit!
Thanks for your always kind words in our Luxembourg blog!
God bless you
Léia

Jeannette StG said...

Leia,
it took me a while to settle on this background -thank you -the men did not stay away form my posts, so I'm glad my choice was not too girly LOL!
It's not hard to be kind about your blog posts, Leia -the pics are always about very interesting places!

Diane AZ said...

I had a similar experience last year with orange, a color I wasn't crazy about. It started with an orange colored bird and then I started noticing orange everywhere. I still don't have any orange clothing, but I do appreciate that color more than I used to. I am attracted to blues and greens and pink is pretty neutral to me.

Mingfei said...

Yes I have see it. I tried to leave a comment but I failed to submit it. Everytime when I clicked the yellow button I will be logged out automaticly.

Jeannette StG said...

Diane,
I had a similar experience as you had Diana with orange, only it started with an orange top in combination with a lot of other colors. Since then I've been warming up to that color, LOL!

Mingfei,
Thank you! Since then I have changed my email, Jeannette(dot)Coevorden1(at)yahoo(dot)com because I got scammed, and you could always write me if that happens again. I think it may have to do with censoring?

luvsclassics said...

Oh My, I'm having fun reading all of these comments on pink! Now it's my turn.

This year, I bought a dusty Rose hue of pink winter hat and a silk scarf to match.
I agree that in the USA, everywhere we go, it seems, all the little girls are wearing PINK. I'd love to travel abroad to Europe to see the difference.
I have one fuschia pink turtleneck that I sometimes wear in the winter! For summer, I like cool shades of blue, mostly turquoise. I like to wear a deep shade of red: burgundy, like a fine wine or chocolate brown. Also, I realized that I have 4 purple shirts from different stores. My mother said she always liked to wear purple though now she wears just black ( she says like an old Italian widow). I have that book, "When I am Old I shall wear purple", by Sandra Martz, a book my mother passed along to me.

Jeannette StG said...

Tried to visit your blogs,...but did you just start, because I can't find anything posted?
Anyway, I was jazzed you commented on Pink, that I had posted so long ago! Past year I've bought a lot of purple, so apparently I'm not very loyal to pink:):)
Looking at your comment you have plenty to say, so I hope you'll start your blog posts soon! Happy weekend.