We Are Victims of Pinkitis
It turns out that my little girl is just like me (and yes, maybe Mom had something to do with it in her case but...I actually think she has leaned pink since birth). She's another one that is all about dolls, pink, princesses, and the whole stereotyped female thing. She won three Disney princess dolls in a raffle recently and I don't think she stopped swooning for a week. In fact, she has now re-decorated her entire room around the dolls. Yes indeed…my daughter and I are victims of Pinkitis, a social “disease” that Jane Glenn Haas discusses in Women Fight To Escape Pink Handcuffs in the Orange County Register this week.
Who Says That Pinkitis Prevents Achievement?
That said...I'm a lawyer, author, writer, and business owner. My daughter can beat any kid on the block (except her brother) at PlayStation or Nintendo games. Both of us have always been perpetual straight A students (including in science and math). When my daughter grows up, she wants to be a veterinarian. So, the Pinkitis in my family is perhaps a bit curious. I don’t know why I like dolls, or all things feminine, frilly and pink! And, neither does my daughter (who, when I asked her for a quote for this article, rolled her eyes and informed me that she had better things to do, like her math homework). But like them, we do.
Pinkitis Is Not Fatal
I thought you needed to know all of that (the lawyer-author-video game-good at math stuff) before I tell you that I don’t think that Pinkitis, therefore, is necessary fatal to ambition . Many of us who are deeply in the throes of Pinkitis—with our rooms full of dolls and our secret admiration for Barbie--are women who have strong self images and careers. In fact, one of the first things I did many years ago when I became an executive at Fox Television (one of just a few women executives in my immediate group) was to proudly display a few vintage Barbies in my office. I think I did it because, after all, the last thing anyone expected a Vice President in Hollywood to be interested in was dolls (it didn’t have the ‘cool’ factor).
Doll Collectors Are Sensitive To Claims of Pinkitis
I bring this up because as someone who now devotes my life to dolls, I think I’m a bit sensitive on the subject. If you collect dolls, admit it—aren’t you a little sensitive about liking dolls, too? Surely you’ve encountered people who immediately assume you are an airhead when you tell them you collect dolls. Or, people who tell you how “cute” your doll collection is…well, if you DO collect pink and frilly dolls, cute can be a complete compliment! But…If you collect fashion dolls, or ball-jointed Japanese dolls or Bratz dolls, you might instead wonder exactly why, if it’s a doll, people have to say its cute.
If You Are a Man, Perhaps You Are A Victim of Blueitis?
I also bring this up because I really don’t think it is harmful to be a “victim” of Pinkitis. I obviously don’t think that Pinkitis gets in the way of achievement or self-image, at least not in the non-scientific poll of my own family. Heck, we certainly don’t think any less of a man who is a victim of Blueitis (deep attachments to sports and anything with wheels, and preferences for somber and dull colors like blue, tan and grey) do we? Sure, some of this is culturally created, but isn’t some of it possibly innate, too? And if it is, is that so bad?
Be Pink and Proud!
So ladies (and all others not afraid to wear the Pinkitis badge!) lets be pink and proud! We’ll organize, and call our new group Pink Power! Or Pinkitis Rules! Or something else catchy that makes a great media sound bite. And while other people are chuckling at us behind our backs, we’ll open up the door to the room in our home that has our (valuable!) dolls, nod approvingly at them, and quietly plot to take over the world and pave it pink in the process.
