This "LOVE PINK" fad has been driving me crazy lately. If you spend any time whatsoever on any given middle school, high school, or college campus, you know why. It's everywhere. From tshirts and sweatpants to exposed undergarments to totebags and waterbottles, you literally cannot avoid seeing the ubiquitous "LOVE PINK" logo anywhere there are large numbers of young(ish) women or girls.
So - go to the mall: LOVE PINK. Go to college: LOVE PINK. Watch TV: LOVE PINK. It's everywhere. It's completely overwhelming. And it says a lot more than just "I like pink". What it really says, on the basest level, is "I'm wearing sexy underwear beneath this skintight neon sweatsuit, and I want the whole world to know!" But also, "I'm a walking billboard for a company that claims to market to "college-aged women" but in the real world sells sexy bras, panties, and logo-emblazoned clothing to tweens and teens and encourages them to aspire to impossible beauty/body standards!" And also, "I LOVE PINK! These sweatpants are a subliminal reference to my genitalia!" Because if you don't think the name of the PINK line is intended to make us think of women's objectified sexual bodies, you're living in a cave. The word "pink" is common slang for women's genitals. This is not a happy coincidence.
Victoria's Secret has made repeated claims that the "LOVE PINK" line is marketed to college-aged women. One click on their website tells me otherwise. But so does common logic. When college-aged women like something and wear it a lot, it's quickly going to trickle down into high school fashion requirements. Because what do teen girls want most? To be like college girls. And, similarly - what do tween girls want? To be teenagers.
So it really doesn't so much shock me when I see a 12 year old girl walking down the street with a giant "PINK" plastered on her rear end. What shocks me is that nobody seems to care or think this is unhealthy. If adolescent girls are wearing PINK, they're obviously watching the Victoria's Secret models and hoping to emulate them - starting, apparently, with buying an entire wardrobe of "PINK". This wardrobe is not limited to bras and panties and sweatsuits! A plethora of accessories are available for all: Wallets, beach towels, blankets and bedding, water bottles, and tote bags touting the PINK logo are some of the more popular items I've spotted on my daily commute.
What, might I ask, is the purpose of toting around a LOVE PINK water bottle? Oh, right. To tell everybody - professors, grandparents, peers, and most importantly, BOYS - that you're wearing sexy undies. And also, that you have enough disposable income to be able to buy this kind of crap. The "PINK" brand's pervasiveness doesn't just contribute to the hypersexualization of young women, it also contributes to the neverending class wars that take place between America's young people.
So please. If you're going to see me today, leave the "PINK" at home. I might have a temper tantrum over it.
-Trisha

