A Photographer Made A Powerful Photo Series About How Pink Is Marketed To Girls

    "It reinforces old-fashioned gender stereotypes," she told BuzzFeed News.

    Julie Kliegman
    by Julie Kliegman

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Photographer Kirsty Mackay thinks society pushes pink too much on young girls.

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow

    So she started a photo series about it.

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow

    For four years, she's been exploring how girls relate to the color pink.

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow

    "I’ve got nothing against people liking the color pink," she told BuzzFeed News. "But my problem is there isn’t actually any other choice for girls. It reinforces old-fashioned gender stereotypes."

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Color Was Yellow

    Growing up in the '70s felt different, and she didn't feel pushed toward one color or another, the England resident told BuzzFeed News. It's evident in the name of the photo book she hopes to publish, aptly titled My Favourite Colour Was Yellow, which she's raising money for on Kickstarter.

    Mackay, 44, first noticed the trend in 2006, when her daughter Ruby was born.

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow

    She purposely exposed Ruby to clothes and toys of all colors and styles, but found pink was still hard to avoid. People kept gifting her daughter pink products.

    "Despite having not chosen this, we were kind of forced into it," she recalled.

    Mackay pointed out that boys aren't subject to the same type of color inundation with blue.

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Is Yellow

    "If you ask boys what your favorite color is, you get a whole variety of different answers," she said. "Boys don’t get attached to blue in the same way girls get attached to pink."

    She wants girls to see they can choose their identities for themselves.

    "We tell boys masculine is about being tough," Mackay said. "It's about fire engines and dins and stuff like that. Pink is feminine."

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow

    "When I started the project, it felt like it was just me thinking about it," Mackay said. "In the past year, I’ve really been able to sense that there’s a change in the air."

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow

    "I just feel really strongly that I want to share this work and make a difference."

    Kirsty Mackay / Via My Favourite Colour Was Yellow