[Sigia-l] Pink, revisited

[Frank Shepard]

Regardless of the manner in which this particular symbolic association
has been taken up since (e.g., its appropriation as a symbol of pride
by the persecuted group), its impact is due in large part to the
function of this symbol under Nazi rule. And the system that enacted
the persecution of these populations was designed. The use of the pink
triangle by the Nazis was a design decision -- one aspect of a large
social engineering project; and it is in large part due to the
horrific policies that corresponded to this label (i.e., to that
design and designation) that this particular symbol has had its power.
I guess my point is that, regardless of the underlying reasons for the
association of a color with a particular segment of the population
(e.g., regardless of why the Nazis chose the pink triangle in the
first place), design decisions can have a tremendous impact (intended
or not) on the future place of that color within social and cultural
systems.

Just think of the connotations given to the phrase "code red" since
the gov't's adoption of the color coded terror alert system. It's now
something of a joke. And I remember a lot of talk about the return of
the color (and word) red in branding campaigns after the fall of the
USSR.

Frank

On 9/13/07, Brett Taylor <btaylor at roundarch.com> wrote:
> No,
>
> The association with the triangle only was a way for a group of people
> to identify with persecution of a culture. When most talk about the
> holocaust we immediately remember the Jewish people, as we should so
> many were killed, the pink triangle and the gays is a way for pay people
> to say "hey Hitler didn't only seek out and kill Jews"; Jews wore yellow
> stars, gays wore pink triangles.
>
> I can't say why Hitler chose the pink triangle, I must of slept through
> that in my gay history class, but maybe in Germany it was a secret
> identifier for gay men to wear like the red carnation was for men in
> other countries.
>
>
> brett taylor + R O U N D A R C H + bus 312.529.2502 + mob 773.844.5233 +
> web www.roundarch.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-bounces at asis.org] On
> Behalf Of Frank Shepard
> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 9:21 AM
> To: SIGIA-L
> Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Pink, revisited
>
> Brett Taylor wrote:
> > The association with the pink triangle and the gay community has to go
>
> > back to the holocaust where the germans made the known gays wear a
> > pink triangle. I wouldn't say that because someone is gay they
> > automatically like pink.
>
>
> In other words, what some take to be a socially or naturally produced
> preference may actually be the result of a centralized, programmatic
> design decision.
>
> Frank
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