How did pink become a girly color?

Time Magazine conducted a survey of all the major department stores across the country in 1927.The results suggested that girls should wear a variety of different colors, with little consensus on which color associated with girls. There was also evidence from 1918 that suggests blue may be the best color for little girls.

Five years after World War II, Dwight Eisenhower becomes president and this has a significant impact on pink. In 1953, Eisenhower is the general who won World War II, and as a result, pink begins to have its present-day meaning.

Ike's inauguration queen arrived in a pink ball gown worthy of an evening at the opera. During his time as President, she enjoyed simpler styles – eschewing sequins and costly fabrics in favor of more muted shades like pink. Her eyes were a nice blue, and her skin was exquisitely fair, making her gown a perfect match.

Mamie Eisenhower is often mentioned in headlines with pink terms. And it wasn't just called "pink", it was called “Mamie pink”. And she would usually say things like "Ike runs the country, I turn the pork chops."

But yeah, it was a very arbitrary decision that she just loved pink and everyone else decided, OK this is the color that girls and women wear. There's a great song in Funny Face called "Think Pink." Where the lady editor of the magazine who is very much based off of Diana Vreeland sings about how women in America today have to think pink.

In the 1930s, black and blue were two colors most often seen on combat clothing of both men and women. Pink began to be popular during this time as a color for both women's clothing and homes.

Women liked the way things were back then because it wasn't seen as oppressive. But there were some women who didn't want to go back to the traditional roles. This happened around the time when you started seeing pink representing women who broke free from traditional restrictions.

Donna Mae Mims is an amazing example of how a good tone can make you look incredible. She has a pink uniform and a pink helmet and a pink racecar. As well as being incredibly canny and kind of terrifying, the girls in Mean Girls display this trait brightly.

Hillary Clinton's cover on People magazine features a bright pink jacket and the caption next to it is pointing out how we should break the highest, hardest glass ceiling for women. So in direct opposition to what Mamie Eisenhower wanted, Hillary Clinton is being showcased.

Pink is often used to define a person's personality and what we think they're capable of. In spite of this, she still wants to show people that she is just like them.