By Corinne Love / Opinions Editor
By Corinne Love / Opinions Editor
I love the color pink.
Whenever possible I like to have pink belongings from a pen to a maybe a laptop.
The color pink has been given a bad rap, especially in the technology business as well as other male friendly markets, like the gaming industry.
In 2007, a survey of 750 British women between the ages of 24 to 45 taken by Saatchi and Saatchi UK, the English section of the global advertising agency, stated women felt patronized by pink gadgets. Cleverly nicknamed “Lady Geek” the survey showed that only 9% were interested in gadgets that looked feminine.
First of all, that is the opinion of British women. Why didn’t Saatchi and Saatchi feel the need to complete this survey across the pond? They are a global corporation after all. Wouldn’t it make sense to seek out a more diverse opinion?
The good news is that its 2009 and we still have a diversity of colorful technology out right now.
But is it sexist to market pink products? Is it really patronizing to have an option?
I don’t see what the big deal is if a woman wants a product in their favorite color. It’s only sexist to market pink products to women when the advertisement is condescending.
When Verizon Wireless came out with the pink Blackberry Curve, advertisements for the phone boasted all the things you can do, like call the sitter (because of course all women have children), and “look good while doing it all.”
But how is pink any different than purple, silver, blue, or green? It’s a preference that not everyone shares. And yet pink is constantly berated and looked down on.
If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Women who are not interested shouldn’t knock a product just because they don’t like it. There are plenty of others who might.
Did any of these women taking part in the survey stop to think that maybe all the “girly” stuff isn’t being marketed to them personally so why take it personal? Why be offended that companies offer pink products to whoever is interested?
Of course there are a number of woman that don’t like the color pink, just as there are men who don’t like the color blue. There are even women with a vehement dislike of the color. But is that dislike warranted?
Pink is often associated with being “girly” and somehow that gives the suggestion of women not being able to do things on there own, or being unintelligent. Women who have a profound dislike for the color pink could possibly believe that by liking the color it makes them less equal to their male counterparts. This ideal feels a little like feminism gone awry. How does making yourself over to fit the ideals what a man is make you equal to them? Isn’t it possible to be women and equal?
Who is to say that a color displays a whole ideology to live your life by?
That’s like saying that all people who like the color green love the out doors.
Being girly doesn’t entail a smaller I.Q.
Writer of “Lady Geek,” Belinda Parmar, a planning director at Saatchi & Saatchi, said after the report was published “there’s a real opportunity here for brands and retailers in the consumer electronics sector to target women. This group of women told us loud and clear that they do not want diamante encrusted mobile phones and baby pink DAB radios.” Even I would admit that rhinestones are going a little too far, but to each there own; it’s still an issue of preference. They still missed the mark on what exactly is the issue. Instead of focusing on how the product looks why not think on how women are sold these products.
Parmar continued by saying “Our aim is to get clients to think differently about how they develop, distribute and market products to women.” And there you have it. That’s what everyone is complaining about right there, how retailers approach women about their products.
As long as pink technology is marketed for the “girly,” pink is my favorite color factor and not to play into a stupid, vapid lifestyle it’s not sexist. When advertisements insinuate that women are only concerned with being pretty and lack an appreciation for art or science it is patronizing. Simplifying a gadget to make it easier for the poor dumb girl is patronizing. Changing anything about the product other than its color to fit into the idea of what a woman wants of her product is patronizing. A camera is a camera to everyone who uses it.
But the fact of the matter is that pink is just a color. Colors aren’t sexist, the men and women in advert
ising are. Sure, there are women who could care less about a pink laptop computer or a game controller, but I’m not one of them.
