This is like when I was a kid and they would make "girl versions" of gadgets just by making them pink. I can't believe companies are doing it. Yesterday I was at Staples and they were selling pink TI-83 graphing calculators. The kind I used in AP Calculus to graph parabolas, solve complex differential equations, and occassionally play a bowling game. There is NO functional reason for a calculator to be pink!

Also, they usually end up charging more for the pink stuff. I had a choice when I got my Razr--I could get either black or silver for the same price, but pink was 50 dollars more. I chose silver.

I call it the "Taxing You For Being A Girl" Tax.

Red as fierce, powerful and aggressive? Oh no, sorry girls, red means lipstick, makeup, and using your laptop not for work, but for a mirror?

Oh, goody. I thought they were going to make me make up my mind. (Sound the clarion call.)

Given the longevity of Dell products, in six months to a year all that laptop is going to be good for is a compact anyway.

(Not very compact, though, is it?)

Screw Dell. Mostly because their hardware sucks.

@ PixelFish:

I totally agree on the comment about razors. I bought blue razors at the comissary for a lesser price than the pink ones.

Also, I attend a military college. At the beginning and end of the academic semester our book store gives away free razors. Last May I had the "choice" of either a pink or a blue one. I wanted the blue one just because I'm sick of buying pink shit. Now these were free giveaways, and when I asked the (elderly) lady behind the counter if I could take a blue one she said no. I said, "Does it matter?" and she said, "Yes, it does." I almost wanted to take a blue one just to spite her, but being that I'm wearing a uniform and represent the school I have to be polite to the civilian employees. But when I thought about it, I did decide that it did matter. My school is approximately 95% male. If the book store gave out all the blue razors to the girls, then they most likely would be stuck with a whole boat load of pink razors they could not give away. Can anyone say "anxious masculinity"? (OMG, if I (as a dude) pick up this free pink razor, all of my friends are going to call me gay!) I say in that case, what is good for the goose is good for the gander (provided the pink product is of the same quality).

I don't understand why the feel women aren't interested in technology (unless it's dolled up in pastels). I know more tech-savvy women than men! And not a single pink gadget among them! Are they really so out of touch with the general public that they think the majority of their customers are white male geeks?

I'm the third one on this thread who had the "Taxing You For Being A Girl" Tax experience with Razr phones, and resisted the cult of the pink ripoff (yay). Sigh, I'm sick of these corporations and their personnel stereotyping us all as idiots so they can profit off the ones who actually fall for it.

I almost always buy something colorful rather than something plain. Give me lime green or bright blue, though; I'll pass on pink.

I'm entertained that the only person of color sports a black laptop. And? White guy with car has a big screen! (I think the red computer would match his car more than buswoman's lipstick.)

GeekGirlsRule, your comment made my day. And it's so true. I wish I had just shelled out the extra money for a Mac because my Dell Inspiron became a fantastic paperweight after 6 months.

I would love to have a turquoise laptop, personally.

UH- oops

I thought PixelFish was talking about shaving razors and not razr phones. I read through his or her comment in a haste because I was so eager to vent on this topic. :)

UH- oops

I thought PixelFish was talking about shaving razors and not razr phones. I read through his or her comment in a haste because I was so eager to vent on this topic. :)

I have a dell because I am cheap and they have really low payment plans on a laptop. It works for people like me! =)

I think the colors for computers are lame in this commercial and how they are targeted at the specific genders. We all know some ladies like brown, black, red and green over purple and pink. Ick, I can't stand pink! And some men like purple and pink. Its just how it is!

you know. i have the weirdest relationship with pink. my mother routinely dressed me in pink and purple as a little kid. other kids would tell me i couldn't play with them because i had pink tennis shoes. i came to internalize the color as a symbol of weakness and unwantedness--"girliness"--and grew to hate the color.

that lasted through college. art school, specifically. and in art school i found myself experimenting with pink in my work, and came to like it.

it pisses me off how they use pink in these ads. girls shouldn't have to get pink. we like all colors. but i admit--i bought myself (and my husband, who does not suffer from "anxious masculinity") a pink nintendo DS.

to be fair though--nintendo doesn't charge us more
for wanting the "girly" color.

Vanessa, not to be nit picky but there are three women in the commercial: one woman has pink, one woman has a purple-ish laptop (she's just standing their holding it) and the last woman has red.

But I guess those are all of the gender approved feminine colors, because all of the men's laptops are darker.

I saw the ad on TV, and it didn't bother me. To be honest, I didn't notice.

I AM sick of the whole pink thing. I have a pink camera, solely because it was the only one the store had left. The pink phone was my mom's doing-the phone company only had pink and silver, and she wanted to make sure our phones didn't get mixed up. Makes me wonder why of all other colors, why pink? (I'd rather have turquoise or lime green.)

What really gets me is the "for girls" edition of the Nintendo DS. It was pink and came with Nintendogs (a puppy simulation game). I'm guessing it was aimed at more casual female gamers, but personally, I preferred the supposedly more masculine Legend of Zelda edition. (I have an older, plain white DS.) Hey Nintendo, there are plenty of males who play Nintendogs, and plenty of females who love Legend of Zelda.

So a month ago I bought a Dell XPS M1330 and I was faced with this very issue of color and perception.

The Dell XPS's only come in five colors: black, white, blue, pink and (Product) red.

I thought for a while I wasn't going to be able to get the red color because of the coupon I was trying to use.

So my next choice was going to be pink. Not because I'm girly, but because it was the brightest color and honestly the most attractive.

But I didn't pick the pink because the laptop was going to be used in professional settings and everyone told me (just as a I thought) it would undermine my professionalism and make me look frivilous. (Yet none of the other colors would, just pink).

It sucks that its being marketed this way and it sucks that pink conveys all those messages by its very shade.

Happily, I ended up with my first choice, red. Yes, I wanted an Dell because it was light-weight, and the reviews were that it was a solid middle-of-the-line laptop for its price. (I decided against a Macbook for compatibility with my HP desktop). But I can't deny that I didn't place some value in choosing the color. I wasn't going to go with the heavier Inspiration because it had MORE colors, but color was a consideration.

There's another women in the commercial without a pink laptop - when the girl with the red laptop smiles to her left, it's at a WOC with a blue laptop. WOC don't get pink ones, apparently.

In their Inspiron [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKYgGyX4pkE]ads[/url] last year, they had a guy with the pink laptop and a girl with a black one.

In this current ad, the girl putting on lipstick was using her camera in a pretty cool way. If I was without a mirror, I probably would not have thought of that. Though, they could have easily had a guy grooming himself.

HOWEVER, I really don't see the problem with selling young women pink technology. Most guys probably won't buy pink products like computers, mp3 players, cell phones, so it only makes sense to have a young women (like the girl in high school) with a pink computer. I don't think it is right that men don't have access to "female" colors because they are "feminine" but that isn't really what we are discussing.
Just because in this video, the women have the pink, purple and red computers doesn't meant that I can't purchase the blue one. My sister will probably buy the pink one, BECAUSE SHE LIKES THAT COLOR AND THINKS ITS CUTE. She has a pink ipod, but (suprisingly) not that many pink clothes.

Does having pink technology make its owners any less tech savvy? Does it devalue their choice?

Lindsay - the woman that Lipstick Lady smiles at the end doesn't have a laptop at all; it's just the blue corner of the bus seat in front of her. Apparently WOC don't get laptops at all, pink or otherwise. =(

One of my colleagues did her psych thesis work on gender/ethnicity in computer mag's advertising. Here's the abstract; you won't be shocked.

Abstract of Thesis:
Narratives of Gender and Technology in Technology Print Advertisements
This study examined the representation of sex, age, and ethnicity for lead and background human characters in technology print advertisements from PC Magazine for the years 1994 and 2003. A total of 925 advertisements (714 from 1994 and 211 from 2003) were included in the sample because they featured an identifiable human character. A total of 4,791 human characters (4,029 characters from 1994 and 762 characters from 2003) were examined. The demographic profile (age, sex, and ethnic appearance) of individuals featured in the advertisement sample was compared to that of the U.S. population. This analysis showed an overrepresentation of White, adult males among both lead and background characters relative to representation in the U.S. Census. The discourse of gender, ethnicity, age, and technology in 3 randomly selected individual advertisements was also examined. This semiotic analysis revealed that themes of power, authority, and competence were associated with White, male, adult-appearing characters and themes of technological passivity, awkwardness, and incompetence were associated with female, adult-appearing characters of various ethnic appearance. Overall, this study suggests the persistence of White male authority themes in technology advertisements.

@Lindsay

The WOC on the bus does not have a laptop at all. She is holding a brown purse. The blue, you most likely saw, was the bus seats.

Also, I'm bad at HTML.

I've been reading all of the 'pink' comments and thought I would share a little on some of our other colors. Natalie recently posted a Chic Geek’s Guide to Color (link below). She mentions her favorite is orange and mine is undoubtedly spring green! I also really like the purple blossom that is also shown in the commercial, being held by a female artist. http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/07/30/a-chic-geeks-guide-to-color/

I don't understand why the feel women aren't interested in technology (unless it's dolled up in pastels).

Exactly! How about telling me about the features, hardware, software, etc? I tend to decide on the technology that is right for my needs and my budget first, color is secondary. I happen to love pink, so I’d buy a pink laptop, if it fit my needs, but I’m not going to buy it just because it’s effin’ pink.

Wow, I see "Jennifer at Dell" isn’t actually reading the posts she dropping ads into or she might have noticed we aren’t exactly praising Dell for furthering gender stereotypes. Way to make your employer look even more out of touch and foolish, though!

I love the color pink. I don't love the idea that companies market pink products to women because they assume we all do. I have a Mac and bought a pink plastic cover for protection. However, its more of a bright fuschia pink.

If you were irritated by the Dell ad, this "feminist tool kit" from the FMF will annoy the dickens out of you: https://store.feminist.org/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=166

This is another issue I struggle with.

I don't like the trend of "if a female uses it, it has to be pink" - but I like the color pink. I find it aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes - not for this post, but for others - I get the sense that it's wrong for women to like the color pink, or wear pink clothes, etc. This makes me really uncomfortable.

Maybe I was socialized to like it. I don't know. I vaguely remember my favorite color being red when I was a kid.

I donate blood whenever there is a drive at my school. There are always a bunch of choices for the bandage colors. I usually go with whichever matches what I'm wearing, or whichever is the most obnoxious. Once, I was lying in the chair thingy (lying because I started to get dizzy, and the nurses tipped me back.) I heard the nurses talking about a guy who just left. "He choose a pink bandage?!" "Yeah, I mean, you're not supposed to donate if you're gay, they ask that question, but I guess he could have lied." I really wish I had not currently been trying not to black out, because I would have gladly given them a piece of my mind.

That said, I also know a guy who got a pink Nintendo DS. I guess it was for the irony. He seemed to really enjoy it when people asked him, "why is your game....pink?" His answer is generally, "I was presented a choice between black, white, and pink. Pink seemed to be the obvious choice."

How ironic then that the ad on the top of feministing.com is for a pink blackberry pearl!

I wouldn't have noticed as I have adblock plus, but was surfing at work and noticed it. Thought it was a joke at first, but sadly no.

screenshot: http://headingwest.ca/feministing.jpg

@ShelbyWoo: It was not my intention to “drop ads” but rather contribute to a discussion about pink and women. I was pointing out that that lots of women in the company are not just about pink, and you can be sure we are about a lot more than colors too… that just happened to be the conversation here.

" like the color pink. I find it aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes - not for this post, but for others - I get the sense that it's wrong for women to like the color pink, or wear pink clothes, etc. This makes me really uncomfortable."

I think the overall consensus is that it isn't wrong for girls to like pink, but it is wrong and frustrating for girls to only be marketed pink things. Like, when I was a baby, my parents wanted to dress me in gender neutral colors, so I wore a lot of oranges and yellows and greens; but those were extremely hard to find, because little girls are SUPPOSED to be dressed in pink. The problem only got worse when my sisters were born, because it seemed like clothing had further been gender divided.

So there's nothing wrong with liking pink, but there is something wrong with marketing it as "Now Girl Friendly Too!" or "Designated for Girls". It is good that there is a color option (not necessary, but -you know- good). And it is good that people can pick their favorite color. But it would be better -I think- if advertising had less "girl=pink" and more "girl could =pink but it could =blue or =green or =black". That way, I wouldn't feel coded that NOW the product was girl-friendly, as if it was unaccessible before.

Bad form ,Dell. And while were at it, how bout Nike with all those black people in their basketball sneaker ads? White people play too! And how come they never show any fat people in Bally's commercials? Fat people need the gym more than anyone. How about some equality in advertising?

I love pink crap. I used to have pink hair, so I have all kinds of pink crap to match. I think what's irritating is not that they showed a woman with a 'feminine' colored laptop, but that they showed ALL of them with them.

Oh, and the lipstick woman - doesn't that remind anyone else of when you used to go to buy a car and the salesguy would make a point of showing you the vanity mirror? GGGRRRRR!!!! Hate that. Show me how this car is going to keep my rib cage from being broken when I get rear ended by a Hummer, not how to check myself out.

Dude, I'm not getting a Dell! I've had my iBook for several years now and the only thing I've done is replace the charger block.

I chose a yellow dell, because I figured I'd need the little pick-me-up burst of colour it provides in the months to come (i.e. university). =)

I saw a rather confusing Wal-Mart commercial the other day that had me anticipating this. It had a young woman insisting to her mother that she needed an outfit. It was well-color-coordinated...and that color happened to be the same color as the mother's sweat er. Several more items were brought forward by various members of the family, all the same color as the sweater or close enough it didn't matter. (This included the iPod her son got.) Then the daughter said she needed a laptop...and when we saw it, it was silver.

It was weird. I was very much expecting the same color, and then they subverted it at the very end. Of course, I'm not sure Wal-Mart sells big brand-name PCs in its electronics department (like Dell or Apple), so it could be they just don't have the high-gloss machines with candy-color cases.

I'm not sure how this relates into the issue. But it seemed to when I started writing.

Eh.

Yeah, pink stuff has always irritated me. (Of course, so do the trashy not-long-enough pants that the ad-girl, and so many real-life girls, are wearing these days. My Indian friend says western people dress as if they are too poor to afford cloth, lol.)
But it's gotten worse since pink was adopted to represent support for breast-cancer causes. As an animal rights activist and stanch allopathy-opponent, I don't want to appear to be supporting medical research!
I like purple, though. Why isn't more stuff purple?

another reason to buy mac

Not to be a jerk, and not that it's exactly related, but I think it's kind of funny that there was an ad for pink cell phones on the right hand side of this rant against pink technology.

I love Love LOVE Feministing, but sometimes I think the ads it chooses to run less than uphold its feminist beliefs.

I also at first was struck with the irony of the ad for a pink cell phone at the top of this article. And then I hit refresh and saw an ad for an H3 hummer. I think I was happier with the ironic ad!

Pink = girl really needs to stop. I have a four year old nephew that has always loved pink and purple. All of the sudden he is coming home from preschool saying that his favorite colors are red, blue, and green because the other kids laugh when he says his favorite color is purple. Not cool, society. Argh ...

ess236,

i think the ads on here have caused a stir in a few situations, but i don't think chatting about it in comments in going to be the most effective way to get results. email jess and them and they'll most certainly look into it... i'm sure the pink cell phone ad popped up because the word "pink" has shown up on the page and cell phones have been mentioned a bit... so an ad server would assume that folks would be interested in buying such things... there may be things the feministing editors/ writers (what do we call them?) can do to better target the ads, but they can't do that unless we tell them directly.

oh, yeah, and as a recent convert to macs, i have to second elisa's comment.

peace.

As stanch allopathy-opponent, I don't want to appear to be supporting medical research!

Yeah, we don't want those mean old doctors finding new and effective ways of curing people!

Am I crazy or is Pink the new color for frat boys? I went to the University of Arizona last year, where most of the frats are on campus and mixed up with the academic buildings, and I kid you not, pink shirts were everywhere on the campus! I don't know if it was a metro thing or if it's dudes trying to break out of the "manly man" mold (I somehow suspect not) but it was certainly a phenomenon.

Also, I think I object more to the "colorization" of children's products than adult ones- we can choose our selves, but I hate that every time I open a Joann's circular, I have to either pick a blue kit or a pink kit for my son...