Pink

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This article is about the color. For other uses, see Pink (disambiguation).

Pink is a color made by mixing red and white and sometimes described as being a light red, but it is more accurately a bright undersaturated red. There are many different shades of this color.

"Pink" was not a color word known to Shakespeare: it was invented in the 17th century to describe the light red flowers of pinks, flowering plants in the genus Dianthus, possibly named from the "pinked" edges of their petals appearing to have been cut with pinking shears.

1 Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions
2 Pink in gender and sexuality
3 Hot pink
4 See also
5 External links

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Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions

While the west typically refers to adult films as "blue movies", in Japan these films are often called "Pink Movies". Associated with females and generally carries a connotation of feminine, innocent, childlike, or with other pastels as spring or flowers. Cherry blossoms tend to show pink so this relation may be hinted at as well in anime. Pink also carries a connotation of sexuality in Japan. This may be because of pink's association with women, or from the pink hue of flesh or a blush or any number of such reasons.

Pink is the colour of the snooker ball which has a 6-point value.

Pink can mean the scarlet coat worn in fox hunting (a.k.a. "riding to hounds"). One legend about the origin of this meaning refers to a tailor named Pink (or Pinke, or Pinque).

The leader in the Giro d'Italia cycle race wears a pink jersey (maglia rosa); this reflects the distinctive pink-colored newsprint of the sponsoring Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

Similarly, the (London) Financial Times newspaper has, since 1893, used a distinctive salmon-pink color for its newsprint, mainly as a way to distinguish itself from competitors.

In Catholicism, Pink symbolizes joy and happiness. It is used for the Third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy at the impending birth of Jesus. However, in Protestantism, the pink candle is sometimes lit on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Love.

Pink along with red is traditionally used on maps for territory ruled by the British Empire or for members of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Pink, being a 'watered-down' red, is sometimes used in a derogatory way to describe a watered-down socialist.

Pink is also the subject of a song by Aerosmith. Among other lines, one is "Pink is like red but not quite."

In maps of political parties in Portugal, pink is used to represent the Socialist Party.

The Staff at Kandersteg International Scout Centre wear bright pink t-shirts and sweatshirts as uniform. This has given them the name Pinkies. The colour is used because it was either Baden-Powell's favourite colour, or because it is the only colour not to currently appear in a National Flag, thus having a truly international staff team.

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Pink in gender and sexuality

Image:Pink knitting in front of pink sweatshirt.JPG

The color of pink is now associated with womanhood, just like blue is associated with boys and manhood, although in 1918 "Infant's Department" (an industry publication) said the reverse was the "generally accepted rule", describing pink as "more decided and stronger" while blue was "more delicate and dainty"". Pink continued to be used for both boys' and girls' clothing through the early 1960s, though associated more and more with femininity. Carrie, from Sex and the City, for example, is seen wearing pink dresses very often in the television series, and Elle, from the Legally Blonde movie series, prefers pink over any other color.

The color pink also has an association with female genitalia.

Some feminists have decried the color pink Template:Fact, along with dresses and skirts, as something related to the pre-feminism "old-style female", which they detest as a symbol of the oppression and limitations of that era. Although this trend persists, the current wave of feminism advocates choice, and many women have sought to reclaim aspects of the old-style female, including pink (and indeed dresses and skirts), as something to be proud of.

Men today are buying pink clothes, which was until recently considered taboo for men (at least in the West). American rapper, Cam'ron is widely credited with popularizing the color pink in urban men's fashion.

Pink is also associated with gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, often in the form of a pink triangle. This symbolic usage stems from the symbols used by the Nazis to label their prisoners in the concentration camps [1]. Where Jews were forced to wear the familiar yellow stars of David, men imprisoned on accusations of homosexuality or same sex sexual activity were forced to wear a pink triangle. Nowadays, it is often worn with pride. A Dutch newsgroup about homosexuality is called nl.roze, roze being Dutch for pink. In business, 'the pink pound' or 'pink dollar' refers to the spending power of the GLB community.

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Hot pink

Template:Infobox color

Hot pink (also neon pink) is bold and intense, or as Elsa Schiaparelli, the first to use hot pink, called it, "shocking pink". Its appearance is more akin to magenta than it is to traditional pink.

NHRAdrag racer Shirley Muldowney was famous for driving a hot pink dragster.

On its way into the German language, hot pink lost the "hot" and is called only "pink", while the English color "pink" is referred to as "rosa".

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