mary_aka_mimiDec 1, 2022
Sheril Kirshenbaum

Ever wonder why we assign ideas about masculinity & femininity to certain colors & styles?

Until the 1940s, pink was considered a strong color most suitable for boys. Ultimately, retailers decided to associate specific colors to gender to sell more stuff... which, in reality, is kind of a scam.

Boys also used to wear dresses until age 6 or 7. They were considered gender neutral until someone dictated how we should perceive them.

This cutie is former president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1885 ⬇️

Nov 30, 2022 at 10:55pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadTamar YellinNov 30, 2022
@Sheril I remind people of this often!
Show threadScatalogicAINov 30, 2022
@Sheril
Dresses are way easier than pants for diaper changes, plus the kids don't outgrow them nearly as fast.
Show threadDud (Mx)Nov 30, 2022
@Sheril Some people are so bad they even try to feminise a male name. What the f*ck kind of name is "Nigella", for instance??
Show threadGaina_Cee (She/Her).Nov 30, 2022
@BackFromTheDud @Sheril Nigella is also the name of a Flower. 😊
Show threadDud (Mx)Nov 30, 2022
@Gaina_Cee @Sheril It is?! Then I stand corrected! Plenty of people have been named after flowers (Narcissus for one!!).
Show threadgothonabromptonDec 2, 2022
@Gaina_Cee @BackFromTheDud @Sheril Where nigella, or black onion seeds, are from? Delicious in a curry.
Show threadGaina_Cee (She/Her).Dec 2, 2022
@gothonabrompton @BackFromTheDud @Sheril yep. 😊 Also known as Black Cumin, I believe.
Show threadRicardo HarvinDec 1, 2022

@Sheril @BackFromTheDud "Male name"?

There's literally no such thing.

Names *typically associated* with gender, yes, but names like Kim, Robin, Fran, etc etc etc show how ridiculous the whole notion of gendered names is, truly.

And these are just a few examples in English.

Show threadDud (Mx)Dec 1, 2022
@ricardoharvin @Sheril you missed Marion.
Show threadRicardo HarvinDec 1, 2022
@BackFromTheDud @Sheril "etc etc etc"
Show threadDud (Mx)Dec 1, 2022
@ricardoharvin @Sheril point taken.
Show threadEthan LascityNov 30, 2022
@Sheril This might be helpful: https://iupress.org/9780253009852/pink-and-blue/
Pink and Blue

Jo B. Paoletti's journey through the history of children's clothing began when she posed the question, "When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in ...

Indiana University Press
Show threadTim (they)Nov 30, 2022
@Sheril Societal gender constructs are such a scam 😕
Show threadOld Hippie ⓋNov 30, 2022
@Sheril That's very interesting. I had no idea about either.
Show threadauntie_beans / howlinmamaNov 30, 2022
@Sheril At the beginning of the 1900s little girls used to wear baby blue because blue was the color assoc with the Virgin Mary. Little boys wore pink bec it was lighter form of the red assoc with Jesus.
Show threadRican🇵🇷VinnyDec 1, 2022

@auntie_beans
@Sheril

This makes so much sense as to why my #Indigenous MIL hates gendered colored garments, in a deeply visceral way and her whole family does as well. I imagine the #colonization process for them was as jarring for them as ot was for us in #Boriken . I would've never made the connection if it wasn't for this comment.

Show threadscfDec 1, 2022
@Sheril Pink and yellow have been "in" colors for the Brooks Brothers/LaCoste set for decades.
Show threadBert LatamoreDec 1, 2022
@Sheril It is interesting how that has permeatrd our culture. I have known the story of how we were sold on Blue for boys, pink for girls, for a long time, yet I would never wear a pink shirt. I remember being shocked the first time I saw a man, dressed for business, wearing a pink shirt.
Show threadRaptorDec 1, 2022

@Sheril after getting into the #mlp fandom in 2012 I would run into debates over what is "for girls"& "for boys" quite often.

and me being the type to do heavy #research for my trivial online debates, I learned quite a bit about this and found it kind of fascinating how what people THINK has "always been true" usually hasn't been true for very long.

my favorite bit of trivia is that the argument over dress color in #SleepingBeauty was actually #satire on the IRL debate going on at the time.

Show threadRaptorDec 1, 2022
@Sheril and for anyone that might not know. what really got the ball rolling on the whole debate, and lead to the switch, was that french orphanages were overflowing with children due to WWII and had chosen to clothe the kids in color coded clothing. arbitrarily picking pink for girls and blue for boys, as a way of quickly identifying which child was a girl and which was a boy.
Show threadHopperDec 1, 2022
@Sheril I am most troubled by his hair
Show threadKris Mitka  Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril @hopper the origin of the mullet ;)
Show threadHopperDec 1, 2022
@mitka @Sheril hahaha
Show threadBigBadBoxBookDec 1, 2022

@Sheril

Americans are complete suckers when it comes to the false linkages beaten into them by ad campaigns. That's not a slam on agencies, copywriters, or creative directors. Behind every unscrupulous ad campaign is an unscrupulous client. It's the advertiser that bankrolls the fraudulent. Same and then some for political ads.

Show threadBenjamin DetenberDec 1, 2022
@Sheril We were fortunate to see this fantastic exhibit in London earlier this year, and it addressed the issue of color and gendered clothing. https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/fashioning-masculinities-the-art-of-menswear
Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear - Exhibition at V&A South Kensington · V&A

This exhibition explores how designers, tailors and artists – and their clients and sitters – have constructed masculinity, and unpicked it at the seams.

Victoria and Albert Museum
Show threadKonfetti 🎉🐳Dec 1, 2022
@BDetenber @Sheril
It sounds super interesting. Too bad it's already closed. Did you take any pictures?
Show threadBenjamin DetenberDec 1, 2022
@Konfettispaghetti @Sheril The exhibit closed in November. I took a few photos. This is my favorite.
Show threadBenjamin DetenberDec 1, 2022
@Konfettispaghetti @Sheril A few more photos.
Show threadBenjamin DetenberDec 1, 2022
@Konfettispaghetti @Sheril A dress that Harry Stiles wore.
Show threadKonfetti 🎉🐳Dec 1, 2022
@BDetenber @Sheril
Thank you for the insight! I really like the different looks.
Show threadWolfie RankinDec 1, 2022
@Sheril I also find it funny how perfumes can be gendered. It's just a smell.
Show threadAir to BreatheDec 22, 2022
@Wolfie_Rankin @Sheril
On that one, I do believe there might actually be some logic. Men and women to tend to have different odors. I don't know how much of might be generalised due to do typical activity, bad diet, excess alcohol etc but I certainly detect a dIfference a lot if the time. In as much as perfume's purpose is to cover up that something is wrong this may be why much male scent products are so strong. - to my unfortunate nose, there is no such thing as "just a smell"
:-(
Show threadESteinNYCDec 1, 2022
@Sheril This pic is wild! I was generally aware that little boys used to be dressed this way so I’m not especially surprised to see a boy in that era dressed that way - but I’m tickled that that’s FDR because damn it looks like him!!
Show threadLaura9999Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril gender neutral mullet-bowl hair
Show threadJ.R.Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril I love the baby photo of FDR. At my grandparents' house I remember seeing a picture of my Grandfather as a baby, in a dress. He was born in the early 1900's
Show threadPaul PeaceDec 1, 2022
@Sheril It's all silly. I'm undeterred. I like my pink T-shirt.
Show threadanneeroperDec 1, 2022
@Sheril This photo taken in #Galway #Ireland c. 1913 and yes, in colour, not retouched by two #French women photographers #Mespoulet & #Mignon working for philanthropist, #AlbertKahn for his #ArchivesOfThePlanet shows an #Irish boy in skirt to fool the #Fairies into not taking him away (because back then #girls weren't worth as much and it was okay if they were taken by fairies)--so there's another bit of #gender #stereotyping...copyright #AlbertKahnMuseum, #Paris 😍
Show threadKrystle the ActorDec 3, 2022
@anneeroper @Sheril Wait, girls were okay to be taken by fairies, but the boy was in a skirt to fool the fairies to NOT take him?
Show threadanneeroperDec 3, 2022
@clearlykrystle @Sheril 😂
Show threadThe Velvet HammerDec 22, 2022
@anneeroper @Sheril Fairies were a dark energy to the Irish, yes? I remember as a child, visiting with family, being told not to pick the wild iris or “ they fearies” would take your soul while you slept.
Show threadanneeroperDec 22, 2022
@vmatinnia @Sheril I'm convince that fairies were early feminists, squashed by the drudge of life before contraception and attempts at #equal pay (we're still not there of course) so they made themselves small in order that their spirits could be nurtured and grown until the time was right and ripe to spread their magic energies in bettering the planet (and also standing up to #JeremyClarkson and his ilk). 😂 😍 🧚‍♀️ #Tinkerbell #Rules #Democracy #Equality
Show threadThe Velvet HammerDec 22, 2022
@anneeroper @Sheril That’s really a good take, and probably closer to the truth than we know. 🥰
Show threadCarm (she, her, hers, ella)Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril like this.
Show threadTheLadyVetDec 1, 2022
@Sheril I have a photo of my toddler dad in a dress sometime in the 1930's.
Show threadmvarioDec 1, 2022
@Sheril It was a case study in a marketing class I took at FIT many, many years ago. Convince consumers that baby clothes are gender-specific and it cuts hand-me-downs in half.
Show threadTim Y.C 🌐🌍Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril same with videogames. IIRC, videogames were perceived as a maculine activity for a long time because when Nintendo came to the states with the NES, American Toy stores asked whether they wanted to put the console in the Boys Isles or the Girls Isles. Nintendo chose the boys isles (i think mainly for profit reasons)
Show threadNico HDec 1, 2022
@Sheril capitalism is always the answer for this kind of stuff.
Show threadsocialkindness1Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril true, the Victorians thought pink was a masculine colour because it was red diluted.
Show threadSweet Blind LivingDec 1, 2022
@Sheril the division of boys and girls from infancy has gotten ridiculous. Right down to potty training! I have worked in infant toddler field for over twenty years. I refuse to use boy and girl diapers. Also I don’t teach boys to put the seat up. I teach them to aim for the center and clean up sprinkles.
Show threadEd PetrieDec 1, 2022
@Sheril We’ve got pictures of my grandad wearing dresses in the late 1920s. In one of them there’s a puddle on the floor underneath where he’s just had a wee. I think this was part of the reason they dressed them like that. You could clean up after them. I noticed they do the same thing in China
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEDec 1, 2022

@Sheril
Our boys wore dresses when small.

Because their big sister had a party dress, so they wanted party dresses too. White frilly fairy dresses.

It was a potential pain when a five year old boy insisted on wearing his party dress for a road trip, and then wanted to go to the loo - what did I look like taking him into the gents?

Show threadCarla MartinDec 1, 2022
@TimWardCam @Sheril 😂
Show threadDoug is riding the mastodon!Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril And the colors seem to vary from culture to culture
Show threadGigicatDec 1, 2022
@Sheril
Show threadHistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴Dec 1, 2022
@Sheril
Interesting, hadn't heard about that.
US only?
Canada? Europe?
Show threadMatt BilleDec 5, 2022
@Sheril I never knew that, but isn't there possibly some influence from military uniforms? Red and other colors had their day, and red ceremonial uniforms still exist, but otherwise, for the past century+, the uniforms are gray, green, or blue.
Show threadLaura Wattenberg, Name WizardDec 16, 2022
@Sheril The "flight from cuteness" for boys keeps accelerating. E.g. parents calling sons "buddy" because "honey" is somehow emasculating to a toddler. And then there's this: https://namerology.com/2021/07/11/boyish-nicknames-for-girls-are-coming-back-again-with-a-twist/
Boyish Nicknames for Girls Are Coming Back Again—With a Twist

In the past, cute diminutives like Frankie and Billie have been popular for both girls and boys. Not this time.

Namerology