Are some colors inherently masculine or feminine?

Question

Are some colors inherently masculine or feminine, or has our culture just decided that some are?

What colors do you feel strongly associated with a gender?

Wow! Thanks for the intelligent and detailed answers! I am appreciating the different ideas and viewpoints you guys are offering!

Answer 1

I believe it's not so much the color itself but rather the saturation.

Pastels are 'weaker' versions of colors, thus giving a type of submissive quality. We learn this as we grow that pastels are for babies (they are actually not naturally submissive, but they have no choice but to be where they are put) or 'weaker' individuals.

I see many PINK shirts in the boy's section of clothing stores, which wind up on the clearance rack. The marketing idea is that "boys who are secure in their boyhood, won't conform to be less of a boy due to simply a visual stimulous". Which is total rubbish, since the fact that boys are just as unsure, and insecure as full grown men. Women are less tricked by color, we simply accept we aren't expected to be strong; thus we accept insecurity and even ask others for assurance= example "Does this dress make me look fat?" "What do you think about my hair?" "Do you like me?" These questions are VERY female and you'd be hard pressed to hear a guy EVER say this; because society doesn't allow them to be UNSURE or submissive without due punishment by ridicule.

How do you think girls would react if everytime they asked a question that would reassure themselves only to get a response of "Are you retarded?" or "You're gay, shut up!"

Answer 2

Masculine Colors

Answer 3

Feminine Colors

Answer 4

RE:
Are some colors inherently masculine or feminine?
Are some colors inherently masculine or feminine, or has our culture just decided that some are?

What colors do you feel strongly associated with a gender?

Answer 5

No colors are inherently masculine or feminine. Cultures define these things, and they change. In Victorian times, pink was worn by baby boys and blue was worn by baby girls. The thinking was that pink comes from red, which is more bold and firey, while blue was soft, light and gentile, and therefore more feminine. Objects and abstract ideas like color do not have genders.

Answer 6

I'm sure you can find examples in plants and other animals of species being differentiated by color. In that regard, there may a genetic memory of certain colors being "male" or "female."

I'd also check some of the Romantic languages to see how they divide color names into masculine and feminine.

Finally, I'd say that pink and red are inherently female when it comes to humans. Desmond Morris theorized that women wear lipstick to mimic a response in the sexual organs. Lipstick is pretty old; probably older than the conscious idea of why it is worn. Therefore, I'd say people originally wore red and pink lipstick due to a subconscious association with femininity as described by Morris.

Answer 7

I think colors being masculine or feminine has been driven by our culture. Society tends to make pink for girls and blue for boys right from the start. As kids grow up, it can be seen as unmasculine to wear pink or yellow. Why is that? Probably because society has decided that long ago and continues to believe that.

We tend to see yellow, pink, pastels, etc. being feminine and blue, brown, dark colors, etc. as being masculine.

Answer 8

Yes, some colors are associated with one gender over the other, but it is our culture's doing.

Like blue for boys and pink for girls. Or purple as feminine or even a gay color.

A good example of that is the other day I bought two toothbrushes, a green one and a purple one. I asked my husband which one he wanted and he said the green one.

It seems to come natural but that is how we have been raised.

Answer 9

It's entirely cultural, and varies between countries and in different historical eras. For example, the Victorians considered pink a more masculine color for boys since it was a toned-down version of red. It was the early 20th century that pink for girls / blue for boys really took hold, and now we think that's natural and obvious because it's all we've been exposed to all our lives.

Answer 10

No, collective societies perception of color is predominantly attributed to cultural conditioning (e.g. disputation with sexual orientation and gender stereotyping), although they do evoke a divergent range of temperamental responses that will vary on how it may be perceived as "feminine" or "masculine." In traditional Christianity for instance, pink was classified as "masculine" color for many years until the 1940's (WWII battle - soldiers wearing blue uniforms, afterwards blue and pink were standardized as gender specific) due to it being a paler shade of red, which is well acknowledged for it's retrospective association with aggression, which is often considered a masculine trait which could be scientifically explicated by the higher quantification of the production of the testosterone hormone in males. Blue was pertinent for females due to it's association with the Virgin Mary, and as of today is still considered "feminine" in certain eastern cultures like China. So generally, there is nothing intrinsically feminine or masculine about colors, although I personally think it's 100% acceptable for women to wear blue; whereas, I found it rather silly and inordinately unprofessional for men to wear pink, but then again I share this same opinion for them to wear orange or bright and mustard yellows.

Masculine Colors (usually dark, natural, highly saturated, earthy, bolder and cooler colors that exude such undertones):

Black, Royal Blue, Forest Green (including other darker greens like olive and hunter), Grey (especially Charcoal), Brown, Taupe, Beige, Tan, Gold, Navy Blue, Dark Red (Burgundy, Maroon and Crimson).

Feminine Colors (warm, softer, toned down, pastel colors):

Turquoise, Light Blue, Purple, Lime Green, Pink, Aqua, Teal, Periwinkle, Seafoam Green, Fuchsia, Coral, Peach/Apricot, Silver, Puce, Cream, Lilac, yellow-green, Persimmon, Zinnia, pale to light-medium sades of green, yellow, grey, brown etc.

Gender Neutral Colors (not generally subject to gender stereotyping, but darker or lighter shades may evoke an effect on gender perception):

White, Green, Red, Bright Yellow, and Orange.