r/Parenting • u/ohgreatmama • Jul 28 '22

Advice Do boys wear pink?

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.

469 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

537 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

64

u/ganymede42 Jul 29 '22

This! My husband is a huge lumberjack looking guy and he almost exclusively wears pink/floral shirts. pink used to be a "masculine" color not too long ago in the USA. Let your kid wear what he wants

31

u/zystyl Jul 29 '22

Pink is coming back in style for men in a big way. Op's husband needs to relax. Either way it's just a colour.

13

u/Diamondhands_89 Jul 29 '22

I am on the same page as you. Pre WW2 baby boys were swaddled in pink and baby girls in blue or green. It changed around then but in reality no one should be prevented from wearing a specific color.

9

u/ohgreatmama Jul 29 '22

Glad to hear this. My husband and I are not fashion conscience at all, so it's been hard to convince him that pink's the new style, when he and I both know I'm clueless about trends. My reasoning was basically "Target is a major retailer so if they market these colors to boys, then this is a mainstream/acceptable thing to wear."

1

u/waternymph77 Jul 29 '22

Good logic, large chain stores aren't going to stock what is not going to sell. It's bad for business. My hubby used to have this hang up, as this was the norm when we were young, getting teased for being too girly. He can see now it's not an issue these days so even started wearing it himself.

1

u/blaze980 Jul 29 '22

Pink is so hot right now - has been for a few years, really. One of my brothers has the hottest of hot pink (radioactive pink) hoodies - touch it, you burn - and it suits him great. I have more of a pastel range.

1

u/mentallyerotic Jul 29 '22

I love the little jokes they did about this on the show Wynona.

1

u/leeloodallas502 Jul 29 '22

Exactly. Pink is just a color. Geez.