What a nightmare when “pink” became the new “black”. Men proudly wear pink shirts. Women’s fashion always comes in pink. Other than a t-shirt back in my elementary school wardrobe, I never liked this sickly sweet hue of bubble gum.

While the trend is bad enough, my life recently entered a too rosy reality. With the birth of our beautiful daughter, my partner and I, while tickled pink by her addition to our family, have been inundated by all its various shades. With neither of us liking rose by any other name (pink, fuchsia, salmon, corral, blush), we had to instill a “no pink policy”. Our group of friends who are part of the current Smithers’ baby boom remark how difficult siphoning out the pink from the generous hand-me downs actually is, especially those who had girls. Fortunately they all make an effort.

Apparently our hopes for avoiding pink for our little girl are only going to get harder as she grows into toddler ware. It’s already difficult with friends and relatives “who can’t help themselves” and “had to buy the cute pink” sleeper/onesie/shoes/blanket/toy. I guess prohibition has never been met with total success… We appreciate the gifts, but our tendencies when dressing her are to by-pass the pink and go for other outfits first. “We just can’t help it”.

With the rosy outfits we do have, my partner and I have brainstormed how to accidentally dye them in the wash. Adding new red socks to the load would just make things worse. Would a dark blue t-shirt turn it all purple? We haven’t yet managed to dream up a natural dye solution. Perhaps weeks on end hanging on the clothesline will sun bleach them out.

In the meantime, our no pink policy comes with a cost. If you don’t have your girl child in pink, the general public is stereotyped to think you had a boy. What I want to know is when did every-colour-but-pink generously get dedicated to newborns with a penis?

I don’t get offended when my daughter is mistaken for a son. If I did, the solution would be easy enough. But I am surprised by how little the stereotype is challenged and how much we engender our children from the very beginning.

Those guessing the sex of your unborn child throughout the nine months of your pregnancy are far more entertaining – betting on heart rates, carrying high or low, rings going clockwise or in a pendulum, amount of morning sickness, etc. Now that Lucia is out in the world, the colour-coded biases get tiring and just seem so old school. We’re in a world where same-sex couples are having children; where women are choosing whether to give their last name to their child; where men are taking 6 months paternity leave; where infertility is challenged by technology; and where some employers are providing flexibility for working mothers. When o when will the notion that all newborn girls wear pink be laid to rest?

Apparently some feminists have reclaimed pink. I may need to start a new movement… multi-colourism? It’s a good thing the pink ribbon is already taken.

Bio: When not on maternity leave, Nikki Skuce works for an environmental non-profit organization. She lives in Smithers, British Columbia with her dressed-in-anything-but-pink daughter.