It’s been something of a tradition, here in America, to dress baby girls in pink.
Not an ancient tradition, though.
Baby books, new baby announcements, gift lists, and newspaper articles from the early 1900s indicate that, back then, pink was just as likely to be associated with boy babies as girl babies.
In fact, back in those days, mothers had a tendency to dress all babies, boys and girls alike, in frilly white dresses.
Here’s a photo, for example, of famous American author Ernest Hemingway, as a baby.
Somehow, Hemingway grew up to be the very symbol of the Alpha Male Big Game Hunter during the 1940s.
If ‘white’ wasn’t your favorite color for your little baby boy, then pink was perfectly suitable, back then. The June 1918 issue of the Infant’s Department, a trade magazine for baby clothes manufacturers, said: “There has been a great diversity of opinion on this 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.”
Thinking seriously about these two colors, I have to agree. Blue is delicate and dainty, and pink is more decided.
In 1927, Time magazine contacted department stores in various cities and asked what colors they used for boys and girls… and the responses were all over the map. According to my (casual) research, pink didn’t start showing dominance as the “traditional color” for girl babies until the 1950s.
I’m thinking about this topic because the Pagosa Springs Medical Center is sponsoring a rodeo event — and other related fundraising events — during the 2024 Archuleta County Fair, August 2-4. The event will raise money for the cancer center at PSMC.
The Rodeo is being advertised as “Tough Enough to Wear Pink”.
This raises a question about the event. Will the rodeo feature a bunch of tough, bronc-riding women, who feel perfectly comfortable wearing pink anyway? Or will the men in the rodeo be wearing pink… much to their embarrassment?
We’re unable to answer that question based on the event poster. The dark silhouettes could be women dressed as men, or men who are willing to wear pink “but not on a poster, thank you…”
The event will additionally include other fundraising activities. The hospital has lined up three men willing to have their heads shaved bald, which is certainly courageous, but not as courageous as it would be for three women. Also, there will be a race on pink stick horses, for adults and kids.
And last but not least, the hospital has invited artists to submit decorated bras. Which I assume will be mainly pink, and possibly most suitable for women. I can’t imagine a masculine man like Ernest Hemingway wearing a decorated bra, regardless of how he was dressed as a child.
Decorated bra contests are not a new idea, in this era of rising incidence of breast cancer. Lots of organizations connected with cancer treatments and the search for a cure have coordinated bra decorating contests.
I found this online example from an event in Texas, built on the theme of automobile headlights.
“Driving towards a cure”, you might say.
These days, you see a lot of baby girls wearing pink headbands, usually decorated with a bow, or flowers. You can’t easily tell a girl baby from a boy baby just by their face and posture, and if you’re a mother concerned about strangers misidentifying your baby’s sex, a pink headband will help eliminate the confusion.
Of course, it’s become harder to tell the boys from the girls when they reach adulthood. Sometimes the girls end up being boys, and vice versa. Sometimes you need the entire rainbow.
But while they’re babies, a pink headband can usually do the trick.
Will she, however, grow up to be a cowboy?
Very possible.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.