A pink-wearing, card-carrying independent woman...and a Pink Florida Giveaway!

Heading out for a day of snorkeling 

I love wearing pink...pink t-shirts, pink skirts, pink hats.  I even carry a pink purse. But for some reason, people find that surprising.  I once had someone ask me if I objected to pink electronics!  "Why would I?" I asked. "Well, you're so self-sufficient..."

Huh?????

Sure, I love my career as an Search Engine Optimization specialist -- I'm a geek at heart, and this job lets me spend my days in front of a computer, tweaking code and content to make pages rank better on Google, and convert visitors into customers.  It's fun!

And I'm well educated.  And willing to stand up for my beliefs.  I can hold my own in a discussion with other professionals, or defend my viewpoint in a debate over a Torah passage, the right way to train a dog (with praise and treats only), or the role of meditation in a healthy lifestyle (essential!)

But why would any of that mean I shouldn't like pink?

I think there is a misconception, and it's apparently a popular one.  It kind of goes like this.

1) Pink is a girl's color
2) Girls are traditionally and generally ineffectual, fluffy-headed and not really able to take care of themselves.
3) So strong, intelligent, capable women cannot like a color associated with "girly-things"  In fact they will be offended if they receive pink gifts.

Hogwash! Let me clear this up right now!

I love to wear pink!  I am NOT offended by pink electronics, pink accessories or pink just about anything!  Probably half of my closet is pink stuff.  The other dominant color is purple.  Probably another "girl colour" I should find offensive. Too bad!

I am happy to be female.  Happy to be intelligent and self-sufficient.  Also happy to have a gentleman open a door, pull out a chair or bring me flowers.  It is possible to be all of that, and more. In pink...or blue or purple or green or black....

A trivia fact: In Victorian times, pink was considered a man's colour.  It was too intense, they thought, for women to wear. And according to some, the practice was revived in the 1920's...

In Western culture, the practice of assigning pink to an individual gender began in the 1920s. From then until the 1940s, pink was considered appropriate for boys because being related to red it was the more masculine and decided color, while blue was considered appropriate for girls because it was the more delicate and dainty color, or related to the Virgin Mary. Since the 1940s, the societal norm was inverted; pink became considered appropriate for girls and blue appropriate for boys, a practice that has continued into the 21st century. 

                                                                     From the Wikipedia  article on "pink"

So pink it is! (Although, as I write this on Friday, I am wearing a long turquoise skirt and a top with nary a bit of pink!) Interesting....

Now for the Pink Saturday give away...

I have a pretty little tropical bowl (pink, of course!)  I am filling with trinkets associated with Florida.  I will send it to a reader who tells me in why they need a piece of Florida. :-)  It will be a random drawing, done by my door-opening, chair-pulling-out gentleman of a husband.  International readers, you are welcome to play as well. :-) The drawing will be done on Monday, so you have until then to get your comments in. I will send it to the lucky winner on Tuesday.

Happy Pink Saturday!