Why do we colour code our kids?

Kate Pietrasik - 18 Mar 16

The last time I took my daughter on a trip to The Science Museum it was a rainy Monday morning, a teacher training day at her school and, truth-be-told, a bit of a mistake. Did you know that all schools in Westminster coordinate their inset days to coincide? I didn’t! It appeared that every parent in inner London with a school child at home that day had woken with the very same idea and, rather than finding the museum to ourselves as I’d hoped, the place was packed.

My five year old didn’t seem bothered as she jostled for a place in front of the bubble machines, interactive experiments, and building blocks. It was busy and I panicked I might lose her but she really wasn’t hard to spot. Every other girl in the room was dressed head to toe in pink and purple. It was a pleasant but shocking discovery to find that Ruby, dressed in her yellow jeans and a bright multi coloured top, stood out like a beacon! Even the boys I noticed were colour coded, kitted out in muddy greens, browns and the ubiquitous blue.

When I used to travel to Bangkok for work I was always baffled when on a Monday everyone wore yellow. And I mean literally everyone! Ordinary Thais showed their allegiance to the king by heeding a government-encouraged campaign to wear yellow shirts. Yellow is the king’s birth color, traditionally corresponding to the day he was born, a Monday. 
It struck me as so conformist and strange at the time and yet now I see a pink and blue version happening with our sons and daughters.

When had colour become so synonomous with gender? Girls know from an increasingly younger age that the pink stuff is for them whilst boys learn to steer clear and that the opposite side of the colour wheel is for them. And what is so pernicious is that this has become accepted.

And it hasn’t always been thus, the reverse was true in 1918 when The Ladies Home Journal wrote:

“There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger colour is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”

Up until the 1980’s there wasn’t the distinct gender divide in colour palettes for childrenswear that we see now. For the most obvious sign that this isn’t a natural phenomenon, just take a look at photographs of playgounds in the 1960’s, 70’s and early 80’s or watch one of those fabulous vintage episodes of Sesame Street on YouTube and you’ll be amazed at the rainbow of colour in the garments the children are wearing. And there’s barely a scrap of pink!

Everything from tablewear to toothbrushes, and bedding to bikes, are colour coded today along with children’s wardrobes. 
It’s an odd concept for me that one’s gender would define one’s colour preference and a ludicrous notion that girls are naturally attracted to pink as some claim (Professor Anya Hurlbert from Newcastle University suggested that females might prefer pink as a legacy of their fruit gathering days when the preference helped them identify the berries from the foliage!).

Girls are force fed pink before they can even sit up. It’s dangerously limiting and horribly exclusive (woe betide a boy that opts for pink as his favourite colour!). 
Colour coding products for children is not only dismissive of the wonderful colour spectrum available to a child and one that they ought to be exposed to but also discourages individuality. Perhaps more worryingly is how colour coding is dividing our girls and boys and how they are increasingly encouraged to view one another as ‘different’. Surely discouraging them from interacting and playing together at a young age and allowing them to believe they are more different than a like will have repercussions for their relationships later on in life?

So why do we colour code our children? 
Using children as a marketing tool with pester power and peer pressure to get parents spending is a sly trick played on us by the marketing departments of big corporates like Disney. Persuading consumers to buy a pink and a blue version of everything to comply with the gender rule results in those companies doubling their profits!

And so when I scan the room at The Science Museum I can’t help but conclude that ‘Pinkification’ has, much like the sea of yellow I would experience on a Monday in Bangkok, reached an almost cult like status! And it’s the large corporate clothing manufacturers that benefit to the detriment of our children. At best it’s boring to see so many of our girls dressed in identikit colours but at it’s worst it promotes a dangerously narrow definition of what it means to be a girl.

Kate Pietrasik, Tootsa MacGinty

Kate Pietrasik

Kate Pietrasik is the founder and designer of unisex children's wear label, Tootsa MacGinty. Having worked for over 12 years as a senior designer for international street wear labels, Kate set up Tootsa MacGinty in 2011, with the aim to create a stylish alternative to the traditional boy-girl clothing divide often seen on the high street. Gorgeous, vibrant colours, playful details and quality, hardwearing fabrics were, and remain, at the core of the brand’s values. “I wanted to produce something directional, stylish and exciting which reflected a child’s imagination and the colourful world we live in” says Kate ”...to offer an alternative to the sea of pinks and blues, whilst also being practical, easy care, quality clothing. A unisex range which doesn’t limit a kid and let’s a child be a child”. From its launch, the company’s unique approach to children’s wear quickly gained recognition and leading department stores including John Lewis snapped up the collection. Four years later and the brand continues to grow and is now stocked across the globe from New York to London, Moscow to Sydney. An e-commerce website also offers the clothing, shipping worldwide, and Kate now has a team of 4 employees to help with the ever growing success of the brand. Kate grew up in North London. At the age of 17 she was lured to the sun, sand and surf of Australia. Blessed with an ambitious and creative spirit Kate spotted a gap in the market for a restaurant offering healthy food and set up a cafe in Byron Bay offering organic foods and fresh juices. Whilst the restaurant thrived, Kate, not content with one career, sold her shares in the very busy and popular restaurant and embarked on a degree in contemporary Art and Design at Southern Cross University (Australia) and The Pratt Institute (New York). The restaurant still exists. After graduating she spent the subsequent 12 years living in France and designing for some of the world’s most successful sport and street wear brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Roxy / Quiksilver, Henri Lloyd and Le Coq Sportif. With a passion and talent for great design combined with a savvy head for business she rapidly rose up the ranks and became a much sought after designer. In 2009 she had a daughter and moved back to the UK to be nearer family. This was the catalyst for Tootsa MacGinty. When looking for clothes for her baby she was shocked at the limited choice of colour, and particularly the gender stereotypical and ‘little adults’ designs on offer. She set out to create an alternative and the idea for a collection of cool, stylish unisex clothing was born. Kate’s business sense, a brilliant talent, coupled with a clear head and vision has led to the creation of a unique brand of beautifully designed and well made clothing which has caught the imaginations of parents and children across the globe. Tootsa MacGinty is only just starting out but is set for much bigger things.

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