You might have had one of the following reactions after reading the title of this blog post:
1. Oh this is going to be dull as hell, who cares about why you don’t like a color?
2. What a strange thing to write about, why would she take the time to do this?
3. Ooh another Life blog post! I love reading these.
2. What a strange thing to write about, why would she take the time to do this?
3. Ooh another Life blog post! I love reading these.
I was doing some holiday shopping recently and found myself in a position where I was going to get gifts for pre-teens and teenagers. Now I typically pride myself on my gift-giving, but this unfamiliar territory was baffling at first. I haven’t been a “teen” for over six years now and when I was a teen I was a weirdo (still am actually). My point is, I have no idea what normal people at that age want for a holiday present!
The eldest teen is a high schooler and I ended up getting her a gift card, the default gift for people who 1) are capable of responsibly deciding what they need and when they need it, and 2) you might not know well enough to get a personalized present. But I didn’t want to give in so easily on my Mom’s step kids: a ten-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy. Mom said they wanted accessories and Nerf guns, respectively… Not much to go on, especially since there is a current blanket ban on Nerf products in my Mom’s house this holiday season (those little foam darts get everywhere).
So I hit the Google with “gift for # year old girl/boy”. Some sites, like PopSugar.com, had gift guides for various ages that weren’t separated by gender. Unfortunately, these were vastly outnumbered by sites that categorized toys and other such items by boys and girls. I used the word unfortunately because while these sites might have been crafted with the best of intentions, they tend to fall into the trap of "boys/girls should like these kinds of things", even though there is evidence suggesting that gendered toys and products are having an effect on our young ones [links: 1, 2, 3].
Here's an example: the site called MyKidNeedsThat.com provides users with Boys Gift Ideas and Girls Gift Ideas for every age from 1-13, then "Teen" for >13. This site claims to be "a worldwide resource built by parents, for parents" with a mission "to help mums and dads choose not only the best, but the most suitable and safe products for their children's learning and development." The following table is showing you their boys and girls lists for the "20 Best Toys and Gifts for 10 Year Olds in 2018". I've provided a bit more detail about the some of the less-obviously-titled products in square brackets, and highlighted the items that made both lists.
First off, I'm sure any child any where would be thrilled to receive any of these toys as gifts. Maybe the parents who crafted these posts strove to help truly clueless people find gifts that their young person might have a small chance of enjoying more because they either have boy parts or girl parts. I just have a few questions: Why are there more robotics toys listed as being preferable for young boys? Why are there more crafting toys listed for young girls? Why are girls supposed to flex their individuality and style while boys are supposed to flex their muscles and brains? I'll be the first to point out that these are just very general statements based off of one site, and that you can buy gifts for either gender from both of these lists, or any list from any site on the whole wide interwebs, if you know what your young person is interested in. Just because something is included on the girl list does not mean that a boy wouldn't appreciate it, and vice versa. But don't worry, this site addressed this in the FAQ on the boy page:
But let's get back to the color pink, shall we? You might have noticed that a bow and arrow set made its way onto each 10-year-old gender's list. There are two main differences between the sets: the brand (Nerf vs. Zing) and the color scheme.
The girl version of the same toy costs more than double what the boy version costs - $49.99 versus $21.85. I poked around on Amazon to see if this difference just came down to Nerf products generally being more expensive than Zing, but Nerf didn't have an equivalent product for the Rebelle bow. They do offer something called a Sports Dude Perfect Signature bow and arrow set that is a bit more expensive than the Rebelle bow shown here ($59.99), but it's advertised for much older boys and has more features (whistling arrows, a target, etc.). Also, it's greenish blue and gray in color.
Have you ever heard of the Pink Tax? If not, here's a helpful USA Today article for some background information, and a direct quote that I've copied here: "The Pink Tax, so named because of the color of products directly marketed to girls and women, refers to the price difference for female-specific products compared with the gender-neutral goods or those marketed to men. And even though the issue has been around for decades, it is still profound." This article was published in March 2017.
One of the best features of the article, titled "'Pink Tax' forces women to pay more than men", is a link to a study published by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA; see right). |
After deriving an average price for 794 individual items across 35 different product categories, the DCA compared these average prices between "products that had similar male and female versions and were closest in branding, ingredients, appearance, textile, construction, and/or marketing." Across the 5 industries surveyed, women's products tend to cost 7% more on average than their male counterparts. If you take a closer look at this free-to-read study, you'll find that the authors included screenshot examples of price differences between things like jeans, razor cartridges, and even senior home/health care products. They also include an appendix that lists each of the products they analyzed.
All in all, I've never liked the color pink for a few reasons.
Pink items were things I was supposed to prefer/want as a young girl. Pink was used to target my parents and I, to send the message "Hey! You have a vagina, so you'll like this!" Like all human beings, I spent most of my childhood figuring out what kind of person I wanted to be. I went through periods of having my nails painted and wearing dresses exclusively, to only wanting to be on an ATV riding through the woods, to trying out dotting my i's with hearts, to playing video games with male dragons and bandicoots as the protagonists. If I didn't prefer/want those pink items, I was called a tomboy. Some girls I grew up with even went so far as to try to insult me by calling me a lesbian or dyke because I didn't crave the pink, before I knew what either one of those words meant (we're talking like age 8 here). I resented pink when I was growing up.
As an adult who spends money I have new reasons to resent the color pink. Items are still advertised for grown women with this color, and tend to cost more than an equivalent item that is advertised for grown men. I've been buying male-targeted products for years now, things like deodorant and sweaters and backpacks, just to combat the ridiculous pink tax. And I will continue to do so. I will support sites that list gift options without regards to gender. If I have children one day, I'll make sure they never feel like they are supposed to like something because of what color it happens to be.
I'm not trying to persuade you to dislike pink with me. In fact, I'm quite fond of pink in some ways. I'm happy that some companies, such as Estée Lauder, support breast cancer research and awareness with pink. I'm proud of the women who wore pink hats and marched on Washington, D.C. in January of this year. I'm a huge fan of the artist, both her voice and her music. I'm just sharing an opinion and venting about a recent frustration. After all, it is just a color, and really, who cares whether or not I like it?