There’s more to this unique hue than meets the eye.
Pink wasn’t always so girly …
Pink is of course a winning color for Spring especially when cherry, plum and apple blossoms emerge. And the Barbie Movie last year infused shades of fuschia and petal into our consciousness in ways we haven’t seen since the 1950’s.
The Meaning of the Color Pink
Pink is a color that often evokes feelings of sweetness, playfulness, and tenderness. It is traditionally associated with historically feminine traits such as innocence, nurturing, and compassion.
In aura readings, seeing pink is a sign that the heart chakra is open and receptive, and the person that it belongs to is showing up in the world in a loving way.
But a little background: Pink was originally associated with boys: An 1893 article in the New York Times recommended giving pink clothing to boys, because their outlook was so much rosier than for girls, who were given baby blue. Pink was considered to be “pale red” and a strong, decided color, while blue was thought to be dainty and delicate. (via The Secret Lives of Color). It’s fitting that these ideas have flipped, and the whole notion of one color or the other belonging to infants has become outmoded.
Marilyn Monroe in Pink
The hue wasn’t always available: While Madame de Pompadour was a huge proponent of pink back in the 18th Century, the color wasn’t widely available until more recent times. Pink colored paint was originally made around 1901 by combining crushed buckthorn berries with chalk. Skip forward a few generations and daring, full bodied pinks became the emblem of strong willed women like Diana Vreeland, Elsa Schiaparelli, Daisy Fellowes, Lisa Vanderpump, and Marilyn Monroe (and yes of course Barbie).
So what does it mean if you love pink?
Psychologists are keen to sort your color preferences into personality segments. If you happen to be big on red you’re most likely an extroverted type who is joyous and tenacious. And since pink is basically faded red (think Nantucket red) we can derive that pink lovers are sensitive and gregarious. A nice combination I would say!
To my mind, pink is more of an attitude and a mood. When we love pink combined with red around Valentine’s Day it’s mainly because we need something to brighten our days and can’t wait for flowers to bloom in the Spring.