The Color Pink, and Gender Policing in Preschool

My sister was in the habit of dressing up her first daughter in pink whenever I was coming to visit, because she knows the girly-girly look grates on me. Now she doesn’t have to pick my niece’s clothes to make sure they’re pink. My niece does it herself, being somewhat Barbie-inspired currently. I wear a little pink myself these days, every so often, but I’m still deeply suspicious of it.

But I don’t think it’s just my aversion to the color pink or the girly thing that makes this report at Avast! Feminist Conspiracy! so appalling. This is happening in a preschool classroom:

Every few weeks, the class focuses on a different color, and they use that color exclusively to paint, draw, and learn what things in the world can be that color. At the end of the phase, they’ll have a day to celebrate that color. The kids are supposed to wear something with that color on it and bring in a toy or something for Show and Tell, and they have a party featuring food of that color. Blue Day went by without a hitch, so did Green Day, and Brown Day.

Then came Pink Day.

The night before, when we were picking out her clothes and trying to find the pink stuffed dog that had gotten lost in her toybox, LC informed me that the boys don’t wear pink, so they didn’t have to participate in Pink Day. They didn’t have to wear pink or bring in an object, but they could eat the food at the Pink Party. She said it again, to make sure I understand: Boys can’t wear pink. It’s a girl color. ONLY for girls. Her teachers said so.

I haven’t been very enthusiastic about this homeschooling thing that C-Man leans towards, but I might reconsider.