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Thursday, June 9, 2011
Daily Sound
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Back in the pink
CULTURE SHLOCK
viewpoint. My wife says that a numAs a humor columnist, I’m not ber of other moms have told her that expected to be much of a fashion their husbands would never let their plate. Yet I still receive frequent sons leave the house wearing even compliments on my unorthodox so much as a pair of pink socks. fashion choices. Needless to say, when she told me “Cargo shorts and flip flops?” this, I was outraged. people will say. “On a man in his “You mean there are dads out 40s? And at an embassy function, no there who have a say in what goes less. That’s, um, bold.” on in their households? Since “Thank you!” I always reply. Just when?” because I dress distinctively doesn’t These dads’ attitudes reflect widemean I can’t be polite. MALCOLM spread cultural biases associated Not surprisingly, my children have inherited my “fashion forward” FLESCHNER with the color pink. No doubt their unspoken fear is that if a young boy tendencies. Especially my five-yearwears pink, that may be an indication that he old son who, from almost as soon as he could could one day become, well, you know, a do more than smile, cry and throw up to communist. express himself, has demonstrated a decided In fact, pink isn’t the only color that gets preference for the color pink. painted with this broad cultural brush. When Thanks to his older sister’s hand-memy wife was pregnant with our first child, a downs, his wardrobe includes pink shirts, woman approached her in a supermarket parkpants, shoes, sunglasses – you name it, he’s ing lot to ask if she was having a boy or a girl. got it in pink in spades. Upon being told that we had decided not to Mostly, I don’t question his attire choices. find out ahead of time, the woman grew disFrankly, I’m usually too concerned about formayed, asking how we knew what color baby getting to change him out of his pajamas clothes to buy. before leaving the house or arriving at preMy wife replied that we could just buy neuschool only to discover that he isn’t wearing tral colors, like green, yellow and purple. At any pants to worry about petty details like this the woman grabbed my wife by the arm what color his missing pants are. But it turns out that mine is a minority See FLESCHNER, page 7
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