This post was created in response to CadyLuckLeedy’s “Life in Colour: Pinkier” challenge.

“‘Rabbit’s clever,’ said Pooh thoughtfully.
‘Yes,’ said Piglet, ‘Rabbit’s clever.’
‘And he has Brain.’
‘Yes,’ said Piglet, ‘Rabbit has Brain.’
There was a long silence.
‘I suppose,’ said Pooh, ‘that that’s why he never understands anything.‘” – Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne

Pink was never a colour I took pleasure in. I remember my mother buying me a pink t-shirt a number of years ago as a gift. I remember feeling upset and saying to her, “Mom I don’t wear pink!” It wasn’t just a pink t-shirt is was a camo pink t-shirt and my memory of it is actually that it was a very nice t-shirt. She kept it and I never saw it again. Fair since I wasn’t a very grateful daughter in that moment. But when I think of pink, which I enjoy very much now, I always think of that moment and that t-shirt.

“The things that make me different are the things that make me.” – Piglet from Winne the Pooh, A. A. Milne

I was raised in a time where the idea of pink for girls and blue for boys was very much a thing, the push back against it had started but was in its infancy. So, what was pink for me in that moment? Well, for me was delicate, sweet, nice, cute, romantic, charming, feminine, and tenderness. Its association with bubble gum, flowers, babies, little girls, cotton candy, and sweetness was not something I wanted to be associated with because I wanted to be seen as the opposite of all those things; I worked hard to be tough, not have emotions or show weakness… As you can see there was something of a battle going on in my mind. I didn’t want to be viewed as feminine or girly and I certainly didn’t want anybody to see me as delicate or tender or in any way weak. However, I was so busy with this miss guided stereotype and association that I was missing that pink also represents love; love for others and love for one’s self. And what is more powerful then love?

“How do you spell ‘love’?” – Piglet
“You don’t spell it…you feel it.” – Pooh” – Winne the Pooh, A. A. Milne

So, where am I on my feelings for pink and what it can represent? I embrace the pink in my life and what it represents: nurture, love, maternal, and all the other things it stands for. I encourage pink my life and that of my boys. Pink is for every body. “Life in Colour: Pinkier” sums it up.

“If you live to be a hundred, I hope I live to be a hundred minus one day, so that I never have to live a day without you.” – Winne the Pooh, A. A. Milne

“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.” – Winne the Pooh, A. A. Milne

Posted by Shari Marshall – 2021