Pink and Blue : Telling the Boys From the Girls in America

“An insightful analysis of the origins, transformations and consequences of gender distinctions in children’s dress over the last 125 years.” —Daniel Thomas Cook, author of The Commodification of Childhood Jo B. Paoletti’s journey through the history of children’s clothing began when she posed the question, “When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue?” To uncover the answer, she looks at advertising, catalogs, dolls, baby books, mommy blogs and discussion forums, and other popular media to examine the surprising shifts in attitudes toward color as a mark of gender in American children’s clothing. She chronicles the decline of the white dress for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers in the early 20th Century, the gendering of pink and blue, the resurgence of unisex fashions, and the origins of today’s highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing. “A fascinating piece of American social history.” —Library Journal “An engrossing cultural history of parenthood, as well as childhood.” —Worn Through "Jo B. Paoletti's journey through the history of children's clothing began when she posed the question, "When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue?" To uncover the answer, she looks at advertising, catalogs, dolls, baby books, mommy blogs and discussion forums, and other popular media to examine the surprising shifts in attitudes toward color as a mark of gender in American children's clothing. She chronicles the decline of the white dress for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers in the early 20th century, the gendering of pink and blue, the resurgence of unisex fashions, and the origins of today's highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing"--Provided by publisher Jo B. Paoletti's journey through the history of children's clothing began when she posed the question, "When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue?" To uncover the answer, she looks at advertising, catalogs, dolls, baby books, mommy blogs and discussion forums, and other popular media to examine the surprising shifts in attitudes toward colour as a mark of gender in American children's clothing. She chronicles the decline of the white dress for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers in the early 20th century, the gendering of pink and blue, the resurgence of unisex fashions, and the origins of today's highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Understanding Children's Clothing 2. Dresses Are for Girls and Boys 3. Pants Are for Boys and Girls 4. A Boy Is Not a Girl 5. Pink Is for Boys 6. Unisex Child Rearing and Gender-Free Fashion 7. Gendered and Neutral Clothing since 1985 Notes Bibliography Index