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Parents Fear Pink Plague
Filed under: Toys
Are today's little girls being brainwashed by marketers trying to sell toys? After a study of young girls' speech patterns revealed that many of them refer to the color pink as "Barbie", some parents are convinced that their daughters are suffering from "pink plague".The phrase "pink plague" was coined by Sue Palmer, author of the book Toxic Childhood. "You can't find girls past the age of three who aren't obsessed with the color. It's just so insidious and it shows how commercial forces can get under their skin even by that age. You can't seem to get anything that's not pink for girls, whether it's clothes, books or toys," said Palmer.
What is wrong with a commercial-driven preference for pink? Palmer believes it is an indication of a larger problem -- one that results in an ever-widening gender gap and influences the way girls feel about themselves. 'It is brainwashing,' said Palmer. 'The pink is just the vehicle. There are other things that become very subtly associated with pink like obsession with appearance and body image and the idea of what female sexuality is.'
Of course marketers are trying to infiltrate our kid's minds. That is what they get paid to do and they've been doing it forever. And while I think blaming "pink plague" for our girls' problems might be oversimplifying things a bit, I get Palmer's point. Kids - boys and girls - receive messages about themselves and each other beginning at a very young age. It is a parent's job to ensure that the messages they receive are the right ones. That gets harder to do as they get older, but limiting a 3-year-old's exposure to marketing messages isn't that difficult: turn off the television.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-04-2009 @ 6:34AM
Boston Mom said...I completely agree with your comment on how to turn marketers off - simply turn off the TV or if you do watch TV - watch commercial free TV.
Also, I have a pre-school age daughter who has plenty of adorable clothes in blue, red, yellow, green and yes, pink. And most toys come in a pink/non-pink variety - if you really think pink is that insidious in your kids life - choose the non-pink version.
Then maybe we can get on with some of the real issues - like having actresses and models actually eat food and not be airbrushed to always look unrealistic on media easily seen in book stores, convience stores, magazine stands, etc. that is not as easy to shield from little eyes.
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1-04-2009 @ 10:58AM
Joy said...After reading the smoking thing, and then this one, maybe we should just put our kids in a big bubble and not let them ever leave the house. Don't let them ever interact with anyone but us. No TV, no media at all. Don't ever let them see any other people because they might have sat next to someone who smoked or worse, might have on a pink blouse!! Don't let them play, they might fall down. Don't let them color, that might be bad too. Especially if there is a pink crayon in the box. The horrors of liking pink. It must be a very slow "news" day.
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1-06-2009 @ 10:27AM
Mommy B said...This is a great post, and Sue Palmer is definitely on to something that is so much more complex than a fear of a color..
I explored it in my Annual Eggnog-Laced Rant on Toys
Part I --- http://reignofthegirlchild.blogspot.com/2008/12/annual-eggnog-laced-rant-on-toys-part-i.html
and Part II -- http://reignofthegirlchild.blogspot.com/2008/12/annual-eggnog-laced-rant-on-toys-part.html
(Yeah, I couldn't just let it go after just one post.)
It's not the color, it's messages that come along with it.
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1-07-2009 @ 12:37AM
Rikka said...I think it's a silly way to explain something that's been happening for centuries. Until women take initiative for themselves and raise their sons and daughters not to accept the gender gap, it won't change. I, for one, was against pink when my first daughter was born, but then came to like the color myself. Now I have almost as many pink clothes as my girls do. But get this, the favoritism for one color or another changes as they grow. Heh, in my house it changes every day! I just make sure my girls understand that they are beautiful and smart and strong just as they are, regardless of what color they like.
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