pink is sweet

"Pink is sweet. Pink is cotton candy and bubble gum and babies, especially little girls"

- cover of my Morning Glory notebook (made in Korea)

"This project began with my daughter. My five-year-old daughter loves pink. She wants to wear only pink clothes and only own pink toys and objects. My daughter is not unusual. Most other little girls in the United States and South Korea love pink clothing, accessories and toys. This phenomenon seems widespread among various ethnic groups of children regardless of their cultural backgrounds. This preference is the result of cultural influences and the power of pervasive commercial advertisements such as those for Barbie and Hello Kitty. Through advertising, customers are directed to buy blue items for boys and pink for girls. Blue has become a symbol of strength and masculinity, while pink symbolizes sweetness and femininity.

To make The Pink Project and Blue Project series, I visited children's rooms, where I displayed their possessions in an effort to show the viewer the extent to which children and their parents, knowingly or unknowing, are influenced by advertising and popular culture."
-JeongMee Yoon

Carlos and I saw Korean artist JeongMee Yoon's The Pink Project a couple of weeks ago at Hyundai Gallery in Seoul. I used to have a pink and white striped room as a child (although, not quite as many things as these photographed children have, I hope, as it's a bit nauseating). Her official site seems to be a bit iffy at the moment, but you can view the rest of the pieces and read her full statement on the project here.