Every few years we find ourselves confronted with the ‘boy wears pink’ headline and parents finding they are confronted with having in some way explain their sons colour choice.

This happened recently to UK TV presenter Emma Willis when she found herself on a daytime chat show saying she was ‘overwhelmed’ by the reaction to her son, 9 year old Ace, wearing pink –  ‘He’s just my son in a pink top.’

It seems the moment a boy wears pink, it’s as if a colour crime has been committed.

Clearing up the gender colour myth

We have this cultural belief that pink is for girls and blue for boys which isn’t helped by manufacturers and marketers ingraining this belief into us by creating everything imaginable pink for baby girls and blue for baby boys.

So let’s clear something up. There is no such thing as gender colours. This is a myth – just clever marketing. And while we’re at it, there’s no such thing as gender neutral colours either.

Over the years I’ve had many people come to me saying their son likes pink and should they be worried. I ask them one simple question – if they hug and cuddle their son? They say of course! My reply is always – when you hug and cuddle your son, if that was a colour, it would be pink.

Positive psychological traits of pink

When we look at the positive psychological traits of pink, it’s the colour that expresses compassion, nurturing, caring and empathetic love. This is not the exclusive domain of little girls or women. Empathetic love is just as much for boys as it is for girls, and is just as easily expressed by men as it is by women.

And yet here we are in 2021, and if my Instagram post is anything to go by more and more boys are embracing pink and yet parents, like Emma, are finding themselves having to explain their son’s colour choice.

I’ve long been a supporter of pink for everyone even in those ‘pink stinks’ campaign days when the colour was absolutely vilified. Yes, you could say I’m ‘seeing red’ about how pink is still seen as a no-go colour for boys.

Colour connects us to our emotions

We are emotional beings and colour helps connect us to our emotions. We can express how we are feeling through colour without having to say a word. Children love colour, just watch them paint, draw, colouring in, they love to experiment, explore and have fun. Telling a child their colour choices are wrong is telling them to not trust their own instincts and their own decisions.

Ace knows the colours he loves saying “Why do I have to dress in green and blue and grey, when I love red and pink and purple?”

Emma fully supports her son expressing himself through colour ‘For me that’s normality. He loves colour, he’s always had long hair, he’s a free and able-minded boy.”

Do you think it’s time for a major overhaul in the attitudes of those aiming pink exclusively at girls and letting the boys in?

So yes, Boys can like pink and if Acer is anything to go by, they love it!

What are your thoughts on pink? I’d love to know in the comments below.

Wishing you a colourful day
Karenx

Extracts from The Little Book of Colour

Source article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9219657/Boys-like-pink-Emma-Willis-shares-positive-message-fans.html

Emma supports My Boy Can project, a great initiative which aims to support boys towards a positive male gender.

Instagram post – Boys wearing pink

5 fun facts about the colour pink

Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash