Dear Gabby — My husband refuses to wear anything pink. I see men everywhere wearing pink ties, pink dress shirts and even multi-colored pink socks; so why is my husband so close-minded to the color of pink?
Cassie
Dear Cassie,
Pink is not traditionally a masculine color like navy or black. We see men wearing coral shirts, and this is a major breakthrough because coral is close to pink. A man associates pink with “girls,” and if he wears pink then he is presumed to be somewhat of a “sissy.” BUT … a sissy he is not; if he’s wearing a pink dress shirt or polo, he is showing in fact that his confidence level is extremely high, and that is great. Pink is not an issue, and the man in general doesn’t have any low self-esteem issues.
Now back to pink. When we, as little girls, were being raised, “pink” dresses, blouses, socks, shoes, ribbon and bows … down to our underwear was PINK. The color pink was tattooed in our DNA, and we as little girls had to wear pink. Hey, even our mother’s wore pink lipstick.
Pink brings me back to the first grade, when I, as a newcomer to school, scared silly and sitting at my desk, eating a pink crayon while the other classmates colored their printouts. Suddenly, the teacher called me out to the front of the classroom, and with a brief lecture on eating crayons, soon the spotlight turned on me and I was asked, “Why did I think eating crayons was a good thing to do?” My reply was one that I thought upon deeply before answering, but when I did, I felt 10 feet tall. I simply replied, “Pink is my favorite color and I like eating pink cotton candy.”
As a 6-year-old, I had related the color pink to cotton candy, and it made me feel good. The crayon had no taste that a 6-year-old could relate to, but it was the mere fact that the pink crayon made me feel good. It boosted my esteem during a time that I thought the world would fall apart because I had started first grade, and my mother had left me in a small world I had never known.
Let’s wrap it up. Cassie, do you know that my first-grade teacher made me sit in the hall all alone for 30 minutes, and made me eat half the pink crayon? What does all this have to do with your husband? Nothing … absolutely nothing. Give him break. If he doesn’t like pink, he doesn’t like pink. In the meantime, go out and buy him a really nice pink dress shirt; he’ll love you for it, and so will I!
Gabby
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE July 10 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.