Pink and blue are used significantly in American culture to signify gender. Whether it is going through the toy section in a store or picking out a baby gift for a friend. Children's clothing is a specific way in which gender is often attempted to be presented. Pink is given to a girl and blue is given to a boy. Though historically that was not the case.
Before the 1900's all babies would wear the color white. It was thought to be a color that related to innocence and used for cleanliness. White was a color that was easy to wash or bleach to keep clean. It also was devoid of dyes which previously were not as colorfast as colors today. Color choices for toddler through children up to age six were primarily dependent on season or fashion but not the sex of the child. Pink was a color used for both boys and girls well into the twentieth century. There were some hints of pink and blue gender coding in the 1860's but it didn't become developed widespread until the 1950's. In the late 1800's child experts started to talk about the importance of differentiating the looks of boys and girls. One might say that people were used to seeing young children and babies as 'sexless cherubs.' The idea of differentiating boys and girls more intentionally didn't catch on until early to mid 1900's. Another historical change that affected peoples color choices was handmade clothing versus commercially processed. It was more cost effective and common to sew infant clothing. Which also led to more color options. The transition to the extreme sexing babies and young children’s clothing as pink or blue was a slow evolution up through 1960.
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Dresses today are considered in many circles of people a feminine piece of clothing. It is still often thought of as something only to be worn by girls or women.
Though historically all young children wore dresses. It wasn't until the early 1900's that young boys were given trousers or shorts to wear instead of dresses. Typically, all young children would wear dresses. Young boys would receive their first pair of trousers around the age of five and eight years old as a sign that they were growing up. It is a newer phenomenon that dresses were only female when choosing clothing for young children. Some people think that dresses were chosen for all young children because it was easier to change diapers and easier for toilet training. Babies wore dresses regardless of gender up until the 1960's. SEX : refers to assigned biological sex
GENDER : cultural and social relationship to masculinity and feminity |
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