Pink is for Boys. And also… for Girls.

It’s been a big week…four Petalwink the Fairy book titles arrived from our publisher! A reprint of the book we self-published and three new titles now grace our presence. While we adjust to having “quadruplets,” we are ramping up to more actively promote this character education series that has a special emphasis on empowering girls to believe in themselves and the greater good.

In thinking about promotional Petalwink events in the past where I’ve talked to parents and readers about the books, one of the things that stands out to me is the surprising horror of some folks when their boys embrace the Petalwink books. I realize how constantly I emphasize that the series is mainly directed at girls, but I’m trying to grasp why “alarm” over a boy being attracted to something feminine could be justified. I’ve literally had parents say to their boys, “You don’t want that book. It’s for girls” after the child has expressed in interest in even looking at the book. Yikes!

You probably know that before World War II, pink was a “boy” color in the US. Because it is in the red family (red + white), it is considered a “strong” color. Blue, on the other hand, is a soft, subdued, and literally virginal (associated with the Virgin Mary) color and so was considered the color for girls. (As an artist, I happen to think that all colors are “neutral,” as my husband can attest when it comes to painting the walls of our home). The fact that who these colors best represent can change so arbitrarily makes me wonder what else is arbitrarily considered “masculine” or “feminine.” And why there has to be such a clear distinction and willful separation.

The feminine qualities traditionally thought of as affection, nurturing, tenderness, thoughtfulness, purity, and even long-suffering receive a necessary impulse from the qualities traditionally considered masculine: strength, intelligence, power, discipline, protection, endurance. [Are you bristling as you read this? Are you thinking, why is that masculine, or why is that feminine? I guess that's my point. We can't honestly divide them out.]

Think of the individuals who have made the greatest impact on our planet. You have leaders like Gandhi who was masculine in his strength, discipline and endurance, but without his feminine thoughtfulness, purity, and affection he never could have provided for us his timeless model of peace. The same can be said of Christ Jesus and any other inspiring leader you can contemplate.

Now think about the individuals who made a global impact in another way; people like Adolf Hitler, who isn’t exactly known for his feminine side. His dominance, influence and power are most notably masculine. We can see then how those feminine qualities are more than niceties: they save lives and change the world for the better (I realize this is all an oversimplification, but it’s a blog post, not a dissertation

The fact is, each individual has masculine and feminine qualities. To go the obvious route, note Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” To me, this says that each individual (man, or person) is “made” to include the male and female nature.

So I’ll continue on helping girls realize their potential–including masculine and feminine qualities–and start thinking about my next project: helping boys embrace the color pink (and blue). Each one of us, no matter our age or gender, would do well to imbibe the qualities of little girls in our daily lives: innocence, joy, creativity, generosity.