Can you be a world famous footballer and sport pink hair without going through the “digital lynching” box? Adjectives fail to describe the tidal wave of criticism received by French footballer Antoine Griezmann when her famous blonde head turned pink. The winner and then runner-up of the FIFA World Cup has been called a «fou» and was again at the center of nauseating discussions – with homophobic overtones – around his sexuality.
Later is this time influencer Nabilla who will pay the price when she broadcasts on her Twitter account to almost 3 million subscribers an image (since deleted) of her son with pink tights. In 2023, no color unleashes so much passion. However, as polarizing as it is, pink has long been prized by men, because it is synonymous at certain times with strength and courage. It is only very recently, with the rise of marketing, that this color will find the connotation that we now know.
This time when men loved pink
«It’s a very divisive, if not provocative color.notes Annie Mollard-Desfour, author of Dictionary of Color Words and Phrases: Pink. Even women have a complex relationship with this color, which can be perceived as silliness or insipidity, that of a not serious color.
In their time, King Henry IV or the writer Dante were however represented with the color pink without this shocking anyone. Far from its current connotation, pink has long been considered a derivative of red, sometimes symbolizing sacrifice, sometimes power.
“Until the Middle Ages, pink was perceived as a derivative of red, the color of blood particularly associated with warsays Auriane Dumesnil, co-founder of the Pépite Sexiste association and activist for gender equality. So it was mainly men who wore this color, as a way of asserting their power. As for the women, they wore blue in reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Even if, at the time, the colors were of course less democratized than they are today, there was therefore already a binary similar to that which we know today, but in an inverted way.
“Knowing the sex of your child before birth allows you to project yourself. So all of this gave marketing ideas.”
During the Renaissance, some painters, like Leeks Leeksused pink – then called cinnabar light – for painting religious designs or human flesh. But it was only in the XVIIIe century, in the Rococo period, that this color will truly find its salvation: the female and male bourgeoisie then seizes it in Europe. Madame de Pompadour will be one of those who will wear pink to excessmaking him popular with the court of King Louis XV.
In the following century, the painters Claude Monet or Edgar Degas in turn succumbed to the irresistible charms of pink. Until then, there is no question of making it a color linked to the feminine gender. It was not until the following century that this form of binarity then imposed itself, making this color a symbol of femininity… for very opportunistic reasons.
The “feminine” pink: a marketing fabrication
“The beginning of the twentiethe century is marked by the development of marketing, recalls Auriane Dumesnil. The 1900s were also those of great progress in science and, casually, knowing the sex of your child before birth allows you to project yourself. All this therefore gave ideas to marketing, which polarized blue for boys and pink for girls.
On his Sexist Nugget Twitter accountit lists countless current advertisements that play on gender stereotypes. “It’s all lazy marketing: as it has to be fast, we play on stereotypes to get the message across. Except that it can become problematic when this marketing perpetuates inequalities. This is particularly visible with regard to the “pink tax”, the difference between a price offered for the same product to a man or a woman. Very often, we see that the prices will be higher on the women’s side.
This difference was particularly noticed on razors, whose pink ones – on the women’s side – have long had much higher prices. “It seems obvious, but you have to remind again and again that pink dye does not cost more!”
By pointing out the excesses of this type of marketing, the Sexist Pépite account succeeds in changing certain mentalities. “We are listened to by the brands, who respond to us. At least once a week, we manage to have a campaign or something removed. We even do awareness workshops. […] There are major national campaigns that still manage to get out of the codes, like Gillette or Heineken recently. But ads like these, unfortunately, still only happen once every ten years.
Claimed ultra-femininity
In 1937, designer Elsa Schiaparelli developed her famous “shocking pink”, a pink that shocked consciences for its liveliness. Twelve years later, it is however this pink that Marilyn Monroe will choose for the now famous dress of the clip «Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend».
Pink then imposed itself in the collective imagination as a color associated with femininity, an image that the success of Barbie – the best-selling doll in the world – would only reinforce. “The Barbie doll is a caricatural femininityexplains Annie Mollard-Desfour. For a long time, it remained the stereotype of the white, feminine woman.
In the 1960s, little girls then played with models often associating the image of women with the space of the home, such as the doll «Barbie learns to cook». And when professions are considered, they are often related to care, such as the “Nurse Barbie”. This imagination conveyed by Mattel will permeate the minds for a long time.
Wearing pink for a man is therefore not trivial and can also be considered a political act.
In France, it is Brigitte Bardot who will have fun with pink by diverting it in an ironic way during her marriage in 1959 with Jaques Charrier. “She chose a gingham print dress that was the stuff of schoolgirl aprons of old.” The image of Brigitte Bardot proudly sporting this checkered dress will go around the world. It will be the mark of an assumed femininity, capable of being as childish as it is powerful. “This is what probably made an impression: she played on this childish side of the checked fabric, while incorporating a sensual dimension into it.
This sensuality will then turn in people’s minds towards a form of sexualization. “Pink in all its shades will be associated with pleasure, optimism, sexuality… even a slightly perverse sexuality: we think in particular of the pink telephone.”
The pink is degenerating
Thoughts against Antoine Griezmann’s wearing of pink are partly due to one of its historical connotations. “During the twentiethe century, le triangle rose was imposed on homosexual inmates in concentration camps, recalls Annie Mollard-Desfour. This color remained since it was then recovered with pride by the homosexual community.
This is particularly the case of the association Act Up, heavily involved in the media scene at the end of the 1980s. Wearing pink for a man is therefore not insignificant and can also be considered a political act. “Antoine Griezmann necessarily thought about the reception that it would arouse to have this color in his hair, estime Auriane Dumesnil. It is precisely a form of activism to reclaim this color.
What if pink was about to degender? “The pink had been tempted by Paris men’s sports teams, adds Annie Mollard-Desfour. And it is more and more present in fashion. While Greta Gerwig’s next movie will present a Barbie and a Ken revisited in a modern way, a color trend has emerged in fashion lately: the Barbiecores. By Brad Pittt to Harry Styleswe now claim the candy pink shade in an uninhibited way.
“Colors reveal things about societysays Annie Mollard-Desfour. With the color pink, we can affirm a whole range of ideas, and claim something ironic and playful. In our society where the vision of gender is changing, pink surely responds to this.
