Hot pink: Women have warmed to the color again

Jun. 20--It's a pink, pink, pink, pink world.

Of course, that's nothing new to most women, who grew up with pink hair ribbons, pink dresses and pink shoes. Heck, even our Barbies wore pink.

But now pink is the grown-up power color of choice.

We can drink pink (energy drinks), talk pink (sleek cell phones), use pink (razors, toothbrushes), even read pink (a business magazine).

Still, we have to ask: Have we really come a long way, baby? Do women want to see their world through rose-colored glasses -- or is it just another example of gender-based stereotyping and marketing?

Like the actual color, the politics of pink come in many shades of gray.

Pink's modern pop-culture history is firmly rooted in the 1950s and that era's celebration of all things domestically blissful. Think not just pink clothes and accessories but also plates, refrigerators and dish soap.

"Pink became a fashion craze in the post-World War II years" as influential women such as Mamie Eisenhower, Audrey Hepburn and, in the early '60s, Jacqueline Kennedy made the hue a hit, says Lynn Peril, author of "Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons" (Norton, $15.95, 224 pages).

"As housewives, women ran the family economy, and accordingly, a lot of (products) were marketed to them."

But then, in the latter part of the '60s and into the 1970s, as the feminist movement took hold, many women grew weary of the "tyranny of pink" and shunned the shade, Peril says.

However, as usually happens, what's old eventually is new again. And, sure enough, the '90s witnessed an underground wave of feminists and artists wanting to "reclaim" the color.

Big business wasn't far behind.

Which brings us to the present.

Among today's hot pink options: the Motorola Razr cell phone (list price: $399-$599) and Sanyo 3100 camera phone (list price: $199), both heavily marketed during Mother's Day; the Orawave battery- powered toothbrush; and the Victoria's Secret "Pink" collection.

But perhaps one of the surest signs that pink figures strongly in the 21st century: pink energy drinks made especially for women, including one called Go Girl, based in West Sacramento.

Sold in a shimmery, two-tone pink can, Go Girl (suggested retail price: $2 for a 12-ounce can) has joined the similarly packaged energy drinks TaB Energy and Her Energy on store shelves.

"Pink is in," says Gordon Guzenski, director of brand management for Nor-Cal Beverage Co., which bought the rights for the energy drink from a company in Japan.

"When we did market research (on the color), women told us we were dead on."

And talk about power. Go Girl has grabbed a healthy market share in area supermarkets, where more "aggressive" products such as Full Throttle, Red Bull and Power Trip -- all packaged in dark colors -- once ruled, Guzenski says.

He credits much of the success to the color -- on the can (pink-on-pink and bearing the pink ribbon symbol, with a portion of the drink's proceeds donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation) as well as in it (a straw- berry-tinted, pink lemonade-flavored beverage).

Women, Guzenski says, are taking "ownership of pink."

So true, says Sara Beth Zivitz, director of marketing for Pink, a magazine for women that launched last year.

"From the time they're born, girls are associated with the color pink, but ... a woman had to act and dress like a guy in order to be successful," says Zivitz, on the phone from her Atlanta office.

"We're about redefining what it means to be successful."

The magazine focuses on "the unique intersection of career and lifestyle that exists pretty much exclusively for women," she adds.

"We like to say that we're Fortune meets 'Oprah.' Our tagline is 'A beautiful career, a beautiful life.' "

And so far, Zivitz says, reader response has been "largely" positive.

"(Readers) understand it's about inspiring and empowering women," she says. "Women are reclaiming pink."

That same philosophy, she believes, is at least partly behind the recent bounty of pretty-in-pink products.

"Companies are starting to get the power of the women's market," Zivitz says. "They make upwards of 85 percent of all household purchases; they're the chief purchasing officers for their families and businesses."

But not so fast.

"(Businesses) are using pink in a way that feels more restrictive," counters author Peril.

"Women are saying, 'Let's reclaim pink and use it as a symbol of feminine power ... and (companies) are turning it back into 'Women like pink, women buy pink, let's just make it pink.' "

Peril's not alone in her criticism; some have even questioned the color's use since the mid-'90s to promote breast cancer awareness.

In her essay last year, "Welcome to Cancerland," for instance, Barbara Ehrenreich confronted what she called the breast cancer movement's "cult of pink kitsch":

"Possibly the idea is that regression to a state of childlike dependency puts one in (a better) frame of mind," Ehrenreich wrote.

Extreme? Perhaps. In any case, what's a self- respecting woman to do? Especially if she's genuinely fond of the color?

Relax. Even Peril owns a pink KitchenAid mixer.

Women should feel comfortable choosing whatever color fits their fancy, she says, as long as they're savvy when it comes to "hamfisted marketing."

"I like my pink mixer, I like my pink dress -- I like the color," Peril says. "You should be able to wear or buy whatever colors you want."

Surely Barbie would agree.

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Milestones in pink history Thinking pink isn't something new -- it seems that the color has always been a part of women's lives. Here's how it has made its mark in modern history:

-- 1949: Brooks Brothers introduces a women's version of its popular button-down shirt. The pink shirt becomes an instant best-seller.

-- 1953: First lady Mamie Eisenhower wears a rhinestone- encrusted pink silk ball gown to President Eisenhower's inaugural ball.

-- 1957: Audrey Hepburn's film "Funny Face" gives birth to a new catchphrase: "Think pink."

-- 1959: Barbie makes her debut, although her pink packaging and logo will arrive later.

-- 1963: Coca-Cola introduces its new diet drink TaB -- in a pink can.

-- 1974: Hello Kitty is born, wearing a pink ribbon on her head.

-- 1980: Lisa Birnbach's "The Preppy Handbook" helps to popularize Ralph Lauren's pink polo shirt.

-- 2000: Pop singer Pink -- part of the teen pop scene that also gave birth to the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera -- releases her debut album.

-- 2001: The pink KitchenAid mixer hits stores.

-- 2005: Motorola introduces a pink version of its Razr cell phone.

-- 2006: Coca-Cola introduces TaB Energy drink for women -- in a pink can.

-- Rachel Leibrock Sources: "Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons"; Wikipedia.org; SmithsonianMagazine.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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