When we learn the different colors when we are little, we are opportunely taught that there are some so-called “primary” colors, from which the others derive: yellow, blue and red. But, if we stop at the rest of the colors, there are probably unanswered questions, such as how the color pink was created, one that has gained so much space in society.
Without losing sight of the fact that the meanings of each tone are given by social constructions, the truth is that pink has a very rich history behind it, one that is well worth knowing to demystify current absurd beliefs.
Origin of the color pink
Regarding its origin, different theories and hypotheses coexist, although the most accepted one maintains that the rose was born from the hand of Madame de Pompadour, the main lover of the King of France Louis XV who, in love with that tone, managed to the porcelain manufacturer Sèvres chose to name it in his honor, “Rose Pompadour”, and finally “rose”.
Paradoxically, in the mid-18th century, the color pink was not a “feminine” color, if there are any, but was more associated with male figures , the same as it was with all reds and their derivatives, which were used to dress and entertain newborn children.
It was not until the next century, the nineteenth, that pink began to be related to the world of women, as a consequence of the fact that the darker, more sober tones were assigned to men and this, in its delicacy and grace, it would be the most suitable option for them.
It was not surprising, at that time, that royal ladies or those who held titles of nobility , chose pink for their dresses, progressively feminizing it simultaneously with a growing sexualization of the female sex, which would have its outlet in art.
Developments
A few decades later, and with the industrialization processes at their peak, chemical pigments opened the doors to shades of pink that had little to do with color in their origins , such as magenta, or fuchsias, almost always cheaper. and accessible than pink.
In short, pink is not a color that has always been with us, but one that was created and molded by virtue of the meanings that were intended for it, thus demonstrating that its representations should not be summarized only to “the feminine”.
