[Sigia-l] Pink, revisited

[Prentiss Riddle]

Ziya Oz wrote:
> 
> Just 9 percent of the fair sex want products that "look feminine," like a
> pink Playstation or Hello Kitty keyboards. 
> <http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/09/ladygeek>

What I found surprising about the story (I haven't yet dug into the
study itself) is that it didn't explore what pink *means* in
cultural or aesthetic terms to the women who like it.

My association with pink or Hello Kitty-branded gear is that it is
heavily ironic.  What portion of the adult population wants tech
products bedecked with skulls or mudflap girls?  To my mind the two
groups are comparable, and in fact probably overlap.  Consider
this line of flash drives:

	http://www.mimoco.com/

That's a very different kind of "girly" from the literal, unironic
femininity of mainstream advertising to women.  (Think Good
Housekeeping, Lifetime, Oprah.)  Which kind of "girly" are the
makers of pink gear trying to achieve?

By the way, for an excellent tech-for-women blog which attempts to
serve a range of female aesthetics from Hello Kitty to sleek and
sophisticated, take a look at Shiny Shiny:

	http://www.shinyshiny.tv/

-- Prentiss Riddle ("aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada")
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