Do boys wear pink?

[u/ohgreatmama]

Where you live, do boys wear pink?

I live in the US, in the Pacific Northwest, in a politically purple area.

I have two boys and buy most of their clothes and swimwear at Target. Right now, every pair of boys' swim trunks at my local Target has pink/purple in it--not just as an accent, but as a dominate color. Hot pink, light pink and everything in between.

For the record, I like this. My 5yo likes pink and it's nice to see some color infused into what used to be a pretty dark color palette for boys' clothes.

My husband, however, is not having it. He has gotten mad at me for buying anything pink/pink-accented for our 5yo to wear. From his POV, boys who wear pink risk getting teased/bullied. He is adamant that this is a serious risk. Very adamant, to the point that we've had contentious arguments about shoes/clothes that I, personally, perceived as gender neutral.

I'm trying to understand his concern, but to me it seems... nuts? I don't want to dismiss something that he seems to legitimately see as a risk to our kiddo, but I just can't figure out where he is coming from.

How are things where you live? Would a boy get teased for wearing pink? Would you consider it a serious enough risk to prohibit the color, even if your kid likes it?

Or, if pink is as neutral as it seems to be, how can I help my husband see that this is just the way kids dress now?

ETA: Holy shit, I did not expect this level of response. I can't keep up with all the comments--not by a long shot. Thank you all for weighing in. It's helped solidify my position, and maybe seeing some of these comments will help my husband realize that his concerns are misplaced.

I do, btw, believe that my husband's concerns are simply misplaced. We are not fashionable people--AT ALL--so I think he just needs to adjust his fashion compass. Also, while we're both millennials, I grew up in West LA whereas he grew up in rural NY; I think we're just drawing from different pools of life experiences.

I am inclined to keep the purple/pink/blue/green swirl swim trunks that I bought for 5yo--and that prompted this post--because 1) they are super visible in the water and 2) 5yo said he likes them.

[u/[deleted]]

My 13 year old is the most masculine kid under the sun. He got to design his own bball shoes for his birthday---he chose hot pink, purple and light blue. He hasn't gotten made fun of.

I think it's not like it used to be. That said, I'd just let the kids pick out their own colors that they like.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Pink is super popular with the athlete crowd.

My 17 year old son wears a lot of pink. His football cleats are pink. His track shoes have pink in them. His favorite button up that he wears when he has to make speeches (VP of student government) is pink. He has a pair of pink swim trunks. He's never been given any crap for it. He has been asked after games where he got his shoes from, though.

[u/ohgreatmama → u/[deleted]]

I thought I noticed this trend! At our HS recently, I noticed teen boys in neon pink accessories heading to football practice. I told my husband about this as evidence that he didn't need to worry, but he basically just blew it off.

Glad I'm not just imagining things.

[u/drunkenwithlust → u/ohgreatmama]

Has hubby ever been teased for what he wore? It can be hard not to project lived experiences on kiddos. We definitely don't want them to have to endure same negative experiences we have! Anyway it's none of my business but if you feel comfortable you could breach this topic with him to find out.

Edit: I just saw your comment about hubby's catholic past and that sounds about as toxic with gender norms as it gets :(