Pink

:This article is about the color. For other uses, see Pink (disambiguation).

Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions

• The color of pink is now associated with womanhood, just like blue is associated with boys and manhood, although The Ladies Home Journal said the reverse was the "generally accepted rule" in an edition of 1918, describing pink as "more decided and stronger" whilst blue was "more delicate and dainty". Carrie, from Sex and the City, for example, is seen wearing pink dresses very often in the television series, and Elle, from the Legally Blonde movie series, prefers pink over any other color.
• While the west typically refers to adult films as "blue movies", in Japan these films are often called "Pink Movies". Associated with females and generally carries a connotation of feminine, innocent, childlike, or with other pastels as spring or flowers. Cherry blossoms tend to show pink so this relation may be hinted at as well in anime. Pink also carries a connotation of sexuality in Japan. This may be because of pink's association with women, or from the pink hue of flesh or a blush or any number of such reasons.
• The color pink also has an association with female genitalia.
• Many feminists on the other hand have decried the color pink, along with dresses and skirts, as something related to the pre-feminism "old-style female", which they detest as a symbol of the oppression and limitations of that era, although many other girls and women have sought to reclaim some aspects of the old-style female, including pink, as something to be proud of.
• Pink is also associated with homosexuals and bisexuals, often in the form of a pink triangle. This symbolic usage stems from the symbols used by the Nazis to label their prisoners in the concentration camps http://www.pink-triangle.org/ptps/symbol.html. Where Jews were forced to wear the familiar yellow stars of David, convicted homosexual men were forced to wear a pink triangle. Nowadays, it is often worn with pride. A Dutch newsgroup about homosexuality is called nl.roze, roze being Dutch for pink. In business, 'the pink pound' or 'pink dollar' refers to the spending power of the homosexual community.
• Pink is the colour of the snooker ball which has a 6-point value.
• The leader in the Giro d'Italia cycle race wears a pink jersey (maglia rosa); this reflects the distinctive pink coloured newsprint of the sponsoring Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
• Similarly, the (London) Financial Times newspaper has, since 1893, used a distinctive salmon-pink colour for its newsprint, mainly as a way to distinguish itself from competitors.
• In Catholicism, Pink symbolizes joy and happiness. It is used for the Third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy at the impending birth of Jesus.
• Pink along with Red was often used on maps for territory ruled by the British Empire.
• Pink, being a 'watered-down' red, is sometimes used in a derogatory way to describe a watered-down socialist.