Pink

   After the meeting of the Small Town Toastmasters, a few of the members go to a local bagel and coffee shop. It a time for us to eat breakfast and socialize after the meeting. The past year or so my friend, Dana, and I have brought knitting and/or crochet work with us. We work on our current projects while we visit.
  Dana has been working on blankets to give to three young girls in a family she is close to. Two of the girls requested that their blankets be pink.
  This is a challenge for Dana because she absolutely, positively cannot stand the colour pink. It doesn't matter if it is light pink, dark pink, rose pink, hot pink, blush, fuchsia, flamingo or salmon. She hates it all with a passion.
  She's crocheting the blankets anyway. I'm sure it grates on her nerves that while she works she gets covered in little fluffy pieces of pink fuzz from the yarn she is using. It probably motivates her to get them done as soon as possible.
  I can see her point. Pink does have some connotations to it. It is the traditional colour associated with infant and young girls. Pink is the colour hat worn by a woman who is not old enough yet to become a Red Hat lady. A pink ribbon is a common symbol for breast cancer. Pink was also a derogatory term for someone who has mild communist or socialist views (according to Wikipedia). Gay,lesbian, bisexual and transsexual groups have also used the colour pink as a symbol. In England and Wales  pink is the colour associated with the defense in a court case. (Brief were tied with a pink ribbon.) In the Roman Catholic Church, pink is a liturgical colour and it represents joy and happiness.
  Like so many things I have mixed feeling about the colour pink. I own several pink shirts, a rose coloured lace dress, a couple of pink sweaters and some pink hats. It's a flattering colour for me especially the rose shade. However I do dislike the fluffy, femme, sensitive reputation that pink has.
  When buying a baby present, I never buy anything pink. I prefer yellow or green. Pink is too stereotypical for me. (I don't buy anything blue either for the same reason.) Many years ago when I was managing a pharmacy I decided that I needed to look authoritative. I banned the colour pink, anything with lace, any kind of ruffle anything that would make me look too "girly". I was concerned that if I looked too feminine, I would not be taken seriously. (My role model at the time was Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager.) I was afraid that if I wore pink I would not be seen as someone capable of taking charge. (Captain Janeway never wore pink.)
  As I've become a bit older, pink crept back into my wardrobe again. I would find something that I liked and then buy it. Since I believe in being age appropriate with my apparel I wonder if there is a time when I will be too old to wear pink. I don't know.
 One thing I do know, if I ever want to knit or crochet a present for Dana I will know what colour not to use.