At some point in life, pink stopped being a colour and started being a personality test. It went from "just lightened red" to "this says something about you," and nobody remembers signing up for that meeting.
In this episode, we unpack how pink became "feminine", and why that idea is way newer, way flimsier, and way more profit-driven than most people realise. We trace pink back to its original associations with power, war, and aristocracy (yes, pink used to be for boys), and then follow the extremely unserious but highly profitable retail decisions that flipped the script in the 20th century. Spoiler: it wasn't biology. It wasn't evolution. It was marketing.
Along the way, we explore how pink didn't just become feminine, it became loaded. It started carrying judgments about seriousness, power, masculinity, and worth. Wearing pink stopped being aesthetic and started being political. And in true Don't Know, Do Care fashion, we blend comedy commentary, quirky insights, and just enough offbeat learning to make you mildly uncomfortable about your childhood wardrobe. Pink, as it turns out, is just a wavelength. The drama was entirely ours.
Important links:
1. The Color Pink — History, Meaning and Facts - https://www.hunterlab.com/blog/the-color-pink/
2. The complicated gender history of pink - https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/12/health/colorscope-pink-boy-girl-gender
3. How did pink become a girly color? - https://www.vox.com/2015/4/14/8405889/pink-color-gender
4. Has Pink Always Been a "Girly" Color? - https://www.britannica.com/story/has-pink-always-been-a-girly-color
5. Here's How Pink Became A Girly Color - https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2023/07/11/heres-how-pink-became-a-girly-color/
6. Pretty in pink: The early development of gender-stereotyped colour preferences - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21848751/
7. 'Girls' preference for pink is not innate' - https://www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/girls-preference-for-pink-is-not-innate/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.
Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.
Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!
