You’ve probably heard this phrase more than once: millennial pink. With all of the derogatory phrases applied to millennials, it was probably pretty easy for you to overlook this one, so we’ll go ahead and fill you in. Millennial pink first started to appear in 2012, and it started popping up EVERYWHERE. To give you a better idea, it’s kind of a toned down version of Barbie pink; a much softer shade. This color definitely interesting, especially in the fact that it seems to be crossing the increasingly blurred gender lines.
Pink for Everyone
Do you know why people dislike millennial pink? Because it really does a great job of throwing off their preconceived notion of gender. In the past, everyone has believed that blue is for boys, and pink is for girls, and to be perfectly honest, it’s SO wired into our brains that many have a hard time accepting it. Gender roles are so established, after all. Remember what happened when Target finally did away with the gendered toy sections at their store? People completely lost their minds, and this is exactly why you’re going to have so many people saying .ā¤I can’t stand millennial pink’. We’re experiencing a significant shift in power, and one where pink is finally becoming androgynous.
The Color Spectrum
A survey of millennials show that 50% of them believe gender runs on a spectrum, and this new shade of pink is allowing millennials, and others, to truly be themselves without the deep-rooted judgment of society staring them down every single time they leave their house.
Toned Down Femininity
You can see this shade of pink applied to all sorts of materials from leather to polyester, and they all have one running theme: to be pink, but not too feminine. They serve to question the line between men and women’s clothing, bringing the genders closer together than ever before. While legislators fight in courthouses and council meetings over bathroom laws for the right to discriminate against transgender people, and their right to exist in public, a much more important battle is being fought on the front lines of fashion.
While we might not be incredibly successful in changing the minds of the older generation, the seeds of unity and the non-conformity to gender roles can be planted in the minds of the next, more accepting generation. You see, the battle is being fought on multiple fronts, and in the end, it is the progressives that will win, with the fashion companies and designers doing their best to bring us all together, blurring the gender lines and reminding us that we are all one people. Most importantly, they let us know that it’s okay to wear pink! The world is changing, one garment at a time.