Criticism of Preconceived Female Roles in "Pink Think," by Lynn Peril

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

When women are growing up, they either hope or are supposed to be ladylike. From the pink blanket for a newborn baby girl to the laced kerchief for an old woman, there exist the standards that restrain female behavior and influence women’s lives as time goes on. Similarly, Lynn Peril argues that “Pink think is a set of ideas and attitudes about what constitutes proper female behavior” (281). In the selection “Pink Think,” which is selected from the introduction to Pink Think, Peril briefly introduces several instructions about female behavior for daily life and illustrates a few factoids of femininity when she was born. By using some theories of Pink Think and several specific examples from history, the author establishes the case that a woman has been expected to fit into a specific mold in order to be a successful woman in life. Nevertheless, some people think that the stereotypes of Pink Think have indeed changed and do not exist in today’s life because of the replacement of new stereotypes. However, through examining the role play games for women, the female’s behavior between past and present, the pink toys for girls, and the first blanket for a newborn baby girl, the pink think still exists in today’s society.

The book is titled: Pink Think Becoming A Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons, the author of the book is Lynn Peril. The first copyright of the book is in 2002 the type of book pink think it would be the author stating her ideals on what it is to be a woman. The subject matter is the ideal woman meaning what America sees as the ideal woman and the things they have done to create or influence women to go and become these ideal roles. The book shows various pictures depicting how women were looked at as well shows newspaper advertisements and pictures of the different roles of men and women in society. The pictures are there to show the ideology of the time of how people wanted women to basically worship the men and treat them with nothing but love and respect. Also included are quizzes from magazines that were created to test if you were feminine enough. These quizzes were good example of what people assumed the role of a women were. The price of the book varies from place to place and is sold between $10.00-$15.00 the isbn for the book is 978-0-393-32354-2.

Women have long been fighting for their right to be seen as equal to men. Even to this day, women continue to fight for their rights, things such as the right to non-gender discriminatory wages. While there may be some arguments over the state of gender equality in the modern world, it is undeniable that there have been great strides made toward recognizing the female 's worth in the workforce and as a human being. Despite these strides, however, things are still not yet ideal for women and many of the issues females face today are the very same issues that have been plaguing them for decades. While it is unfortunate the oppression of women has been so long-lived, the length of that exposure has thankfully enabled many talented writers to both lament over the fact and emphasize the need for gender equality.

Women have been a vital key to the shaping and progression of our society. Throughout time, women’s roles and opportunities in the family, workplace, and society have greatly evolved. They started from being housewives that don’t have many rights, even in the household, to being valued citizens in our

Girls from a young age are exposed to the idea that by looking right and dressing right, they can receive financial support, love and affection from men. Colette Dowling calls this the Cinderella Complex, a network of largely represented attitudes and fears that keeps women from full use of their minds and creativity. The Color Purple shows how this myth can be broken and reinforced in a manner that empowers women both economically and socially. This essay highlights how clothing in the novel, becomes a symbol of race, gender, strength of character and transformation of the self. (Lupton)

The “princess phase” is first up for debate as Orenstein discusses the concept with fellow mothers at her daughter’s school. Each of the mothers justify the princess epidemic in a different way, one stating that it’s simply about dressing up and that the stories are not permitted in the home while another says that having a princess ideal gives her daughter a strong identity as a woman and as female -- a place were 1960s feminism erred, according to this same mother.

My first interviewee, a white woman of age 36, responded to a question asking her about her favorite color by replying “Pink”! She went into specifics as well, detailing the amount of items she had in the color: “I had a pink blanket, pink cradle, pink boombox. Everything had to be pink”! Orenstein states “It’s not that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow, and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls’ identity to

Renowned op-ed writer Claire Cain Miller in one of her articles, "Boys and Girls, Constrained by Toys and Costumes" brings our attention to the distinction between boys and girls for choices, this difference leads to the long-term notion of gender roles in the minds of the children. Claire's article is trying to sensitize the general public against gender difference. She tries to be sentimental by pointing out that the gender war started long before we were born, thus having the presence of a gaunt definition of what is for girls and what is for boys.

Peril begins this essay with the introduction making the point that women are expected to behave and act the “Pink Think” way. She then goes into stating that the thought of girly things made her form a hatred and it left her feeling awkward and out of place. She gives examples throughout the book, how women were suppose to act. Which deals with

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Women and men have had certain roles in society that were understood amongst them to be specified for their particular gender. Males were known to have the leading role as head of the house hold and the bread winner while the woman’s duty was to stay at home and take care of the house and children. While many people years ago deemed this way of life and practice to be the right and ethical thing to do, times have changed and so this kind of treatment towards a woman’s equality must be questioned. Even though times have changed, this mindset of a woman’s ability to be as good as a man has not completely gone away. In today’s society a woman contributes to the economy and her family as equally as that of a man. Therefore, women should share equal rights and opportunities as their gender counterparts.

Throughout history and today, we women are constant victims of stereotyping from our society. Certain “rules” have to be followed and certain “ideal” women images have to be kept. We are raised in a way to fill certain position where the society wants us to be and as a result, the opportunities are always limited for us and ideas of our importance in the society are diminishing. Even though women gained some independence, where women can work and take various position in society, the society’s idea of typical role of women never seem to change.

Hell hath no fury like a woman being asked if she is on her period. The culture surrounding emotions have come to shame those who show their emotions, women being told they’re hormonal and men being said to be too feminine. Louisa May Alcott was asked to write Little Women as a “conduct novel”, the genre was created to teach women how to be good little ladies (Klein). Although, the novel began as just that but she soon took many liberties with the genre creating strong and independent female characters. Her book set a new attitude for girls growing up in a society that taught them to be meek little wives and mothers. Alcott taught women that they were qualified to be anything and were allowed to express their emotions shamelessly. Society has placed blame for women’s emotions on their gender; this blame has become a commonplace joke but in Little Women not once is one’s emotions summed up by their gender. Through a feminist critique one can see how women and men have grand and small reactions to situations, no matter their sex.

Throughout history, women have been seen in many different lights. From a woman’s perspective she is strong, smart, helpful and equal to men. In the eyes of men, she is seen as the weaker being, the housewife, and the caretaker. By looking at the following pieces of writing, one can see that through the centuries, women have struggled to break out of the mold that man had put her in and make themselves known in society as important.