Pinked!

Chapter 3, Pinked!

This Chapter explores the world of pink. How almost every toy marketed at girls is pink. Why? Because it's guaranteed to sell. What? Everything. Pink screwdrivers, pink scrabble sets, pink cowboy hats. Add some rhinestones and now you have a real top seller.

Of course, the Disney Princesses reign over pink.

Orenstein despairs over this lack of imagination. But the marketers have found a winning formula, and they're sticking with it.

This chapter delves into the interesting and frightening world of marketing; the sort of place where children under the age of one are described as "a more informed, influential and compelling audience than ever before". Yep, that's right, now even babies are fair game in the corporate world of marketing. So it seems from birth to death someone's going to be selling us something and it's hardly avoidable. Yay....commercialism. The market thrives by magnifying or creating gender differences and separating age groups. Now families must buy separate toys for their boys and girls and as a child progresses through the numerous age groups - for instance from pre-tween to tween to teenager - the latest clothes and games should be purchased. Ker-ching, ker-ching, ker-ching.

But still, many marketing and design specialists still struggle with gender. Sesame Street has just 5 female characters after it's 37 seasons. They've tried to introduce new female characters, but they're just not popular enough. They're judged as too scruffy or ditsy and undeniably held to a different standard than the male characters - because Grover is just so handsome!?
"If Cookie Monster was a female character, she'd be accused of being anorexic or bulimic", the show's executive producer, Carol-Lynn Parente quipped.
The most popular female character had been Zoe, who was specifically designed by the executives to be prettier. However she still didn't meet expectations. So Abby was painstakingly created and this new pink, pretty, sparkly and magical creation surely had the ker-ching factor.
Orenstein refutes claims that this pink and pretty phase empowers girls or sparks their imagination and hardly views it as "honoring the range of play patterns girls have"....perhaps 'range', or lack thereof, being the key term here.

"If you make a pink baseball bat, parents will buy one for their daughter, if they subsequently have a son, they'll have to buy a second bat in a different color".
Ok, well parents don't have to buy their daughters everything in pink! Yes, some pink is great....but there's nothing wrong with a good old fashioned wooden baseball bat.

Now onto Barbie...while that's a topic and a half! Again, love her or hate or, she's an icon that's for sure! I had barbie dolls, I also had non-brand dolls like barbies. I had dolls my mother had passed down to me, ragged old things with short, dark hair and a more normal figure. I watched the Barbie films...of which there are many, and always thoroughly enjoyed them.

Now Barbie has changed over the years. Her once secretive slanting eyes are now rounder, her lashes longer. The red pout transformed into a pink smile with pearly teeth. More accessories will be available now than ever imagined.

Barbie was introduced in 1959 and has almost 60 years of history under her many accessory belts. Undoubtedly, such a doll has played a major role in the lives of many women. So much so that X Gen mothers were eager to share Barbie's with their 3 year old daughters - as opposed to waiting for the intended 8-12 year old market. This has contributed to girls getting older younger. As 3 year olds play with Barbies, it's no longer cool for 8 year olds to do so also. This lead to many 6 to 12 year olds torturing their barbies.

This newer Barbie has more curved and softer face, with blonder and shinier hair. She looks friendlier, younger and prettier. Her breasts have shrunk slightly and her waist broadened. Quite a transformation from the original doll based on a German sex toy. Yet at the same time, astronaut, surgeon and president Barbie have been predominantly replaced with fairies, butterflies, ballerinas and princesses - all focused heavily on pink.
The only problem now, is that children around the age of 6 and over are now rejecting this friendlier and cuter Barbie for edgier dolls like Bratz as they seek to keep cool and grown up. They don't want such baby play.
The once innocence pink heralded during the princess culture, can now be said to lead to narcissism and materialism as pink takes over the shelves.