Blog #7- Color Prejudices

My sister felt that the appearance of my blog was too bland so she decided to dress it up with some pictures and added color. She asked me what my favorite colors were to know which ones to add, which over the years have consistently been blue and green. I’d have to say that I’m in a rut. Occasionally a different color such as purple might show up in my wardrobe, but that piece of clothing is rarely worn. I don’t know why, but I feel more authentic when I wear green or blue clothes.

This afternoon, I showed my 17 year old son Bryce, my blog site. He asked if he could spice up the appearance of it. I said, “Sure.” After about 15 minutes, he handed it back to me see what I thought. It has a dark pink background, and he pasted on it one of those pink breast cancer ribbons. I refrained from showing my visceral reaction, auk, pink! Instead I tried demonstrate the maturity of a 53 year old mother, and told him that it looked great, which it did, and stifled my desire to comment about the pink color.

I’d have to wager it wasn’t until I reached the mature age of thirty that I deliberately stopped stereotyping the color pink. I associated pink with being weak and helpless. It’s more fitting with my ideals to be inclusive and to accept diversity. I am proud to say that I occasionally get out of my blue and green rut, and wear pink clothes. But it’s apparent from my reaction to the color of my blog site, that I still have some residual prejudices.

My ten year old daughter Mallory won’t get near the color pink. I could give a lecture about the injustices of labeling, but I’d be a hypocrite. I remember when Bryce was about four years old; he went through a phase that pink was his favorite color. Then societal influences turned him away from it. My husband Todd, for years wore a pair of hot pink biking shorts. They were washed so many times and faded by the sun that they turned into a light pink color. They eventually shredded in a biking wipe-out. I was impressed and proud that he wasn’t fazed by societal norms despite living in a conservative town.

I am hoping that Bryce will make a graphic design to put on a t-shirt which The Cyclo Healer team can wear during the cross country ride as well as in the Prouty. I’ve been wrestling with the t-shirt color. Since I’m a breast cancer survivor, it seems appropriate that it’d be pink, which wouldn’t normally be my first choice. Who knows, maybe by the end of the trip I’ll associate pink with strength and courage, not that I’m doing any kind of labeling…