living colour
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTHA ROBERTS
The story goes that, not so long ago, pink was for boys and blue was for girls. A 1918 trade publication confirmed this was the ‘generally accepted rule’ because pink was ‘stronger’ and blue more ‘delicate and dainty’(think the Virgin Mary). However, factors such as the popularity of blue sailors’ suits for boys and the mass availability of fabric dye put an end to all children wearing only white, and meant that, by the 1950s, the colour-gender divide was established, says Kassia St Clair in her book, The Secret Lives Of Colour (John Murray, £20). Whatever the situation, pink is seen as powerful: recent research found that items such as pink pens and razors marketed at women are almost 40 per cent more expensive – the so-called ‘pink premium’ or ‘pastel tax’ – than those marketed at men. But how does the colour pink make us feel?