Pink is for girls, blue is for boys

Have you ever wondered whether pink really is for girls and blue for boys? In our final episode of series two, Beks is joined by Dr Vien Cheung, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, and National Gallery Educator Ed Dickenson to explore the surprising, gendered history of pink and blue.

We trace the rise of fashion's 'shocking pink', the cultural impact of the Barbie movie, and the enduring image of one of art history's most frequently depicted women dressed in blue. Listen to uncover how colour influences fashion, film, psychology, and even athletic performance – challenging assumptions about what pink and blue really mean.

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Vien is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds, with a research interest in colour from all angles - from science and technology to psychology and philosophy, to art and design.

Ed started his teaching career in Japan before working as a primary school teacher in London. He has worked on the learning teams of several museums and galleries including the Horniman, Historic Royal Palaces, and Ben Uri Gallery. He has been a Gallery Educator at the National Gallery since 2017.

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Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA2RzHwsoyY

You can email us with any questions via [email protected]

Find out more about the podcast on our website: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast

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Paintings mentioned:

Andrea Solario, ‘A Man with a Pink’, About 1495 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/andrea-solario-a-man-with-a-pink

Raphael, ‘The Madonna of the Pinks ('La Madonna dei Garofani')’, About 1506-7 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-madonna-of-the-pinks-la-madonna-dei-garofani

Paolo Veronese, ‘The Family of Darius before Alexander’, 1565-7 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paolo-veronese-the-family-of-darius-before-alexander

William Hogarth, ‘The Graham Children’, 1742 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/william-hogarth-the-graham-children

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Further reading:

'Legally Blonde', 2022 [Film]

Kassia St Clair, ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’, 2016 [Book]

Jo B. Paoletti, ‘Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America’, 2012 [Book]

Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department Trade Publication, June 1918 [Article]

Find out more about Alexander Schauss’s research on Baker-Miller pink: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236843504_The_Physiological_Effect_of_Color_on_the_Suppression_of_Human_Aggression_Research_on_Baker-Miller_Pink

Find out more about research on the ‘red advantage’ in sports: https://redadvantage.webspace.durham.ac.uk/research/ https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/olympic-red-advantage/

Find out more about Elsa Schiaparelli here: https://www.schiaparelli.com/en/21-place-vendome/the-story-of-the-house/

Find out more about Andy Warhol’s prints: https://warholfoundation.org/warhol/catalogue-raisonne/catalogues-raisonnes-print/

Find out more about Pantone’s 2016 colours of the year – Rose quartz and Serenity:https://www.pantone.com/uk/en/articles/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2016?srsltid=AfmBOorv2IjZznAonfFTmp2fnJPDc_04sI9CprjGL3wZS8EcjY9S_5lU

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Episode credits:

Guests: Dr Vien Cheung and Ed Dickenson

Host and executive producer: Beks Leary

Producer: Harry Rosehill

Researcher: Hannah Rogers

Technicians: Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter

Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti

Editor: Oli Mason

Theme music: Theo Elwell