under the pink

or, suffer the little (girl) children...

(in 1918) 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."

- Ben Goldacre, Out of the blue and pink in the Guardian

fast forward to 2009 and there's a pink car accessories aisle in Halfords. seriously. (cue loud gagging)



somedays it's hard not to think the world has gone completely mad.

this article on feminist books for kids has provoked some heated opinionating over at The Guardian. amongst the almost two hundred comments, i discovered a reference to PinkStinks - a website devoted in part to battling the ubiquitous pink trend in products for girls...

can you spot the difference between then and now...?

(i'm so loving that 70s lego ad. this display however, makes me want to go lie down in a darkened room...)

in an act of masochistic curiosity, i searched and found this is (apparently independent) review of the Monopoly game on the top shelf:

Today’s games for girls post is about another Hasbro product – Monopoly Pink Boutique. It’s the classic Monopoly board game with a girlish twist. Instead of buying properties like Boardwalk and Park Place, players buy malls, hair salons, spas and fashion boutiques (like Jillian’s Jewelry Store and Savannah’s Super Spa) , go shopping, pay cell phone bills, and instead of Chance and Community Chest cards, players pick Text Message cards and Instant Message cards. Even the money, dice and property cards are pink!

Monopoly Pink Boutique comes in a pink case that looks like a jewelry box. Even the game pieces are girly. Houses and hotels have been replaced with pink and purple malls and boutiques, and tokens include sunglasses, a hairdryer, flip flops, a cell phone, a skateboard, a soccer ball, a purse and a dog. The tokens can even be worn as charms on a bracelet.

Monopoly Pink Boutique is intended for ages 8 and up and retails for $29.99 from Toys ‘R Us. Looks like a great, educational game for tween* girls!

(from Play Library)

yes. that's right. they said educational.

speaking of definitions, dictionary.com tells me a tween is a youngster between 10 and 12 years of age, considered too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager. (needless to say, those are my italics and i kind of wish i hadn't bothered to discover what the word actually meant)

don't get me wrong. i like pink. in appropriately small doses. but if, like me, all this leaves you feeling decidely nauseous, you might consider making some Pepto Bismol ice-cream with this recipe from Make: Magazine

::

thankfully not all 10 year old girls are as gullible as some adults...

Dorothy sent this superbly hideous online ad to Joel. Joel sent it to me.
bump your bangs! with Bumpits.
they both want it filed under, "Ridiculous!"
folks, i see your hairific find and as i praise you for your astute judgment, i raise you this:
Baby Bangs!
 
::

these, however, gets my thumbs up:

for books of every kind, for both adults and children, i've been loving dipping into the best of 2009 over the New York Times.

and Megan McArdle at the Atlantic has put together her holiday gift guide: kitchen edition.  McArdle bases her annual list on stuff she uses in her own kitchen and the list ends with products she thought would be good but turned out not to be.

here's a bit of musical therapy before getting back to work.

LB