Pink and Blue

February 15, 2012

When and why did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue? Paoletti (American studies, Univ. of Maryland) shows that the social rules for attiring our young are ever-changing. Her survey, the result of 30 years of research, considers consumer culture, gender-identity formation in children, parental anxiety about the same, mass production vs. home sewing of clothes, and changing societal beliefs about masculinity and femininity, propriety, and gender roles. Old photographs, paper dolls, and sewing-pattern packages illustrate Paoletti's findings, e.g., that traditional white baby dresses were common for boys and girls from infancy well into childhood through the late 19th century. In the 1920s, a survey indicated that about half of major American department stores promoted blue for girls and pink for boys. An interesting trend toward unisex fashion, influenced by feminism and the sexual revolution, thrived from the 1960s through the 1980s. But from the 1890s onward, children's clothing has become increasingly gender-specific and now heavily reinforces gender stereotypes. VERDICT This is a fascinating piece of American social history, perhaps raising more questions than it answers. It is of potential interest to students and professionals in fields ranging from child development to gender studies to fashion to marketing, as well as to new and prospective parents.--Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus

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