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Pink's my favourite colour. Does that make me a bad feminist? Think pink! How did one colour come to mean so much?
(about 2 hours later)
The first thing I notice standing in front of artist Bianca Beetson’s striking series of self portraits is the colour. It’s so rare to see pink in an art gallery the effect is striking.The first thing I notice standing in front of artist Bianca Beetson’s striking series of self portraits is the colour. It’s so rare to see pink in an art gallery the effect is striking.
Beetson, whose work appears as part of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Art Museum’s Quaternary exhibition (on until 28 June), has gained a reputation for working in shocking pink, and you quickly realise this is far from a frivolous decision.Beetson, whose work appears as part of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Art Museum’s Quaternary exhibition (on until 28 June), has gained a reputation for working in shocking pink, and you quickly realise this is far from a frivolous decision.
“Pink can be quite an edgy colour. I look at how it can be soft and gentle but can also be strong and powerful. I use it to represent artificiality,” says Beetson.“Pink can be quite an edgy colour. I look at how it can be soft and gentle but can also be strong and powerful. I use it to represent artificiality,” says Beetson.
“The more I developed my identity of voice as an Indigenous artist, the more using pink became about being a black woman and the way Australian history has been so candy coated to make it palatable, it’s so artificial, pink acts as a whole cultural reference for this,” says Beetson.“The more I developed my identity of voice as an Indigenous artist, the more using pink became about being a black woman and the way Australian history has been so candy coated to make it palatable, it’s so artificial, pink acts as a whole cultural reference for this,” says Beetson.
Has she always been drawn to the colour?Has she always been drawn to the colour?
“I was a tomboy when growing up and my mother was always trying to force me into pink to make me more feminine and girly. She put me in a pink bedroom with pink flowers on bed covers so I rebelled against it,” says Beetson.“I was a tomboy when growing up and my mother was always trying to force me into pink to make me more feminine and girly. She put me in a pink bedroom with pink flowers on bed covers so I rebelled against it,” says Beetson.
Beetson uses pink as a code for blackness.Beetson uses pink as a code for blackness.
“By using it in her art she draws attention to it, she asks political questions about what it means to be reduced to one colour,” says Courtney Pedersen, QUT head of discipline for Visual Arts, curator of Quaternary and chair of In the Pink, a panel looking at the gender politics of the colour, at WOW Brisbane on Saturday.“By using it in her art she draws attention to it, she asks political questions about what it means to be reduced to one colour,” says Courtney Pedersen, QUT head of discipline for Visual Arts, curator of Quaternary and chair of In the Pink, a panel looking at the gender politics of the colour, at WOW Brisbane on Saturday.
Like Beetson, I was also a tomboy. My childhood was nothing like the Disneyfied pink sparkle-fest you see in today’s playgrounds. I read the Beano magazine over Jackie, never had a Barbie phase (I figured out early on she wasn’t for girls who looked like me), and had to be forced into Laura Ashley dresses for the school photo (they’re rubbish for climbing trees). Like Beetson, I was also a tomboy. My childhood was nothing like the Disneyfied pink sparkle-fest you see in today’s playgrounds. I read the Beano magazine over Jackie, never had a Barbie phase (as a black girl with a curly afro I figured out early on she wasn’t for girls who looked like me), and had to be forced into Laura Ashley dresses for the school photo (they’re rubbish for climbing trees).
And yet these days I love a bit of pink. Many is the time I turn up to a meeting and whip out a pink notebook, mobile phone and laptop case, all from a pink handbag only to look down and think, damn, everyone around the table now thinks I’m a total loser. I try to make up for it by turning up the feminism several notches but by then I’ve lost half the room.And yet these days I love a bit of pink. Many is the time I turn up to a meeting and whip out a pink notebook, mobile phone and laptop case, all from a pink handbag only to look down and think, damn, everyone around the table now thinks I’m a total loser. I try to make up for it by turning up the feminism several notches but by then I’ve lost half the room.
I consider my attraction to pink – the brighter the better – a feminist failing, along with my love of Millionaire Matchmaker and questionable hip hop. As a result, I’ve been on a personal mission to subvert the colour pink for many years. I’ve tried to hard to make purple – with it’s proud Suffragette history – my “thing”. At the moment, I’m having a bit of a flirtation with orange. But inevitably I’ll drift back to pink.I consider my attraction to pink – the brighter the better – a feminist failing, along with my love of Millionaire Matchmaker and questionable hip hop. As a result, I’ve been on a personal mission to subvert the colour pink for many years. I’ve tried to hard to make purple – with it’s proud Suffragette history – my “thing”. At the moment, I’m having a bit of a flirtation with orange. But inevitably I’ll drift back to pink.
Why does it matter? It’s not the colour but what it signifies.Why does it matter? It’s not the colour but what it signifies.
Pink needs so much thinking about because of the way it’s used to pigeonhole girls into softer, gentler beings. To be less adventurous, to sit quietly, like good little princesses. And while of course blue stigmatises boys, the associations with the colour tend to much more positive, about exploring and engaging with the world in a challenging an inquisitive way.Pink needs so much thinking about because of the way it’s used to pigeonhole girls into softer, gentler beings. To be less adventurous, to sit quietly, like good little princesses. And while of course blue stigmatises boys, the associations with the colour tend to much more positive, about exploring and engaging with the world in a challenging an inquisitive way.
Campaigns such as the UK’s Pink Stinks highlight the way pink is used as shorthand for girls and blue for boys.Campaigns such as the UK’s Pink Stinks highlight the way pink is used as shorthand for girls and blue for boys.
“Pink and its many facets currently represents an overarching social concept of ‘girl’ that is strongly limiting, reinforces stereotypes and has further ramifications. Pink has become the signpost for all things girl. From an increasingly young age, children are being funnelled into identifying with toys, games and other products, which separate them and narrow their range of play and experience,” say the team at PinkStinks.“Pink and its many facets currently represents an overarching social concept of ‘girl’ that is strongly limiting, reinforces stereotypes and has further ramifications. Pink has become the signpost for all things girl. From an increasingly young age, children are being funnelled into identifying with toys, games and other products, which separate them and narrow their range of play and experience,” say the team at PinkStinks.
Related: Why girls aren't pretty in pinkRelated: Why girls aren't pretty in pink
The idea that this stuff now starts in the womb is what is so shocking. New parents are encouraged to paint the nursery pink or blue the second they return home from a scan.The idea that this stuff now starts in the womb is what is so shocking. New parents are encouraged to paint the nursery pink or blue the second they return home from a scan.
And yet, it’s only in recent history pink has became a “girls” colour. In 19th century England boys wore pink clothes and pink ribbons. It wasn’t until the 1940s pink was considered more fashionable for girls.And yet, it’s only in recent history pink has became a “girls” colour. In 19th century England boys wore pink clothes and pink ribbons. It wasn’t until the 1940s pink was considered more fashionable for girls.
It’s not the colour, but the way the colour has come to represent a feminised version of anything, “and a feminised version of anything is rarely the full version,” says Courtney, at QUT.It’s not the colour, but the way the colour has come to represent a feminised version of anything, “and a feminised version of anything is rarely the full version,” says Courtney, at QUT.
In a world where women and girls are reduced to a single colour, pink will remain problematic.In a world where women and girls are reduced to a single colour, pink will remain problematic.
If you’ve ever tried to buy clothes, shoes or bedding for an girl under 10, you’ll know how limited the choices are. As an adult I can question my choices and redress the imbalance. When that fails I can go and read some bell hooks. But it’s time girls stopped having a world of colours reduced to just one.If you’ve ever tried to buy clothes, shoes or bedding for an girl under 10, you’ll know how limited the choices are. As an adult I can question my choices and redress the imbalance. When that fails I can go and read some bell hooks. But it’s time girls stopped having a world of colours reduced to just one.
Hannah Pool, Courtney Pedersen and Bianca Beetson will be speaking at WOW Brisbane, 19-21 June, QUT, Brisbane.Hannah Pool, Courtney Pedersen and Bianca Beetson will be speaking at WOW Brisbane, 19-21 June, QUT, Brisbane.