Ready and Resilient Interview & The Perception of Women, Ep. 6: Gender Colors and Toolboxes

To artists, colors are colors. They are resources from which we communicate an image. To most other people, though, colors represent concepts. For example, in America, approximately 80% of people associate the color red with the smell or taste of berries, cherries, or fruit punch; the color blue is associated with water, sky, and blue raspberry, and pink is associated with...girls? 

Gender colors didn't happen until the 1940's when pastels came into popularity and manufacturers settled on pink for girls and blue for boys (In 1918, it was pink for boys and blue for girls), so baby boomers grew up wearing the two colors. Gender neutral colors rose to popularity in the 60's and 70's but pink and blue made a comeback with the development of prenatal testing, allowing parents to know the gender so they could outfit the nursery in the "appropriate" colors. 

Now, colors can be used to shame (ex. pink underwear for male inmates), and to encourage boys and girls to embrace traditional gender roles.

That's what the Perception of Women panel discusses in this episode of Arts Underground. 

Also, artists can have a difficult time being business savvy, but some are waking up to smell the smoke, and they're doing something about it with the Ready and Resilient workshop. We talk about it with Daniella Perallon and Eliah McCutchen.