Are these lyrics racist?

[Ann-Marita]

I teach dance classes. We have a recital coming up. I have a cute song picked out for a class of 3-4 yr olds. It has just the right amount of words, a nice musical part where we actually dance, and a nice ending. Overall, it's a good song for this age level, and lots of dance studios have used it.

BUT, I just looked at the lyrics with a new eye and I'm wondering if the lyrics are racist. Here they are, and tell me what you think:

Pink is for little girls they say
You hear it every day
Why is it so, you'd like to know
I'll tell you right away.

It's not the ribbon in my hair
It's not the tutu that I wear
It's me all over, head to toes
I'm pink just like a rose.

Pink is for little girls they say
Pink is for everything that's gay
For button nose and twinkle toes
And giggles while we play.

But here is a secret just for you
And you know that it is true
No matter what you think of pink
We're just as nice in blue.

Pink is for little girls they say
And you know that it is true
No matter what you think of pink
We're just as nice
In Blue!

[Viola]

Well, I suppose if the only girls singing it were white, it wouldn't necessarily be inaccurate. But it's not inclusive.

[HarperRose]

Hmmm. Well, it certainly emphasizes changing gender ideas. Like pink AND blue is good enough for everyone. But it also indicates that little girls are pink.

Not all of them are. My little girl is actually more of a light beige-ish. She hasn't been pink since birth. My friend's little girls are a dark tan.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by Viola

Well, I suppose if the only girls singing it were white, it wouldn't necessarily be inaccurate. But it's not inclusive.

: Also, it seems to reinforce gender stereotypes.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by Justthatgirl

Hmmm. Well, it certainly emphasizes changing gender ideas. Like pink AND blue is good enough for everyone. But it also indicates that little girls are pink.
.

x-posted, but it's interesting because I read the lyrics differently. To me, they seem to enforce gender ideas rather than challenge them.

[HarperRose]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

: Also, it seems to reinforce gender stereotypes.

I got the opposite. Hmm.

ETA: we keep x-posting.

[Ruthla]

I'm assuming that the questionable lyric is "I'm pink just like a rose". Is that referring to pink clothing (ballet slippers, tights, tutu, leotard, hair ribbon) or skin color?

I've never seen a rose in a color that resembled any skin color but sunburned. Do roses come in such a pale pink that it could resemble fair skin?

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I'm assuming that the questionable lyric is "I'm pink just like a rose". Is that referring to pink clothing (ballet slippers, tights, tutu, leotard, hair ribbon) or skin color?

Well, apparently the button nose is pink as well.

Pink is for little girls they say
Pink is for everything that's gay
For button nose and twinkle toes
And giggles while we play.

[Calidris]

Well, I think it's more non-inclusive than racist.
It is however annoyingly sexist.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by Calidris

Well, I think it's more non-inclusive than racist.
It is however annoyingly sexist.

So it's not just me reading it that way then....


BTW, it's occurring to me as a mod that there might be copyright issues here. Could you maybe just quote a stanza or two, link to the rest, and attribute it?

[CookieMonsterMommy]

This is kind of weird...because white BOYS are generally the same shades as their female counterparts, no?

I'm thinking *maybe* pink is being used as another word for "cute" or "girlie". Because the giggles can't be pink...and "everything that's gay"-gay meaning fun and happy. So pink, IMO, might be more of the attitude than the skin color.

And maybe by being just as cute as blue, that means that they're "just as nice" when they're acting a bit harder or tougher or whatever.

Even if it means skin color, I don't think it's racist (though it could be used in a racist way, ie to make a girl of color feel uncomfortable being in a class of all white girls)

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

[Phantaja]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Well, apparently the button nose is pink as well.

Pink is for little girls they say
Pink is for everything that's gay
For button nose and twinkle toes
And giggles while we play.

I don't think that it's racist or sexist. I think that it's cute.

I'm reading that as:

Pink is for little girls
Pink is for everything that's gay
Pink is for button nose
Pink is for twinkle toes
Pink is for giggles while we play

Like pink isn't so much a physical description but a mindset for all things girly. And I don't think that it challenges or enforces gender ideas. It says that no matter what your "girly" color is, pink or blue, it's cool as hell to be a girl! At least, I certainly enjoy being a girl.

[Phantaja]

Originally Posted by CookieMonsterMommy

This is kind of weird...because white BOYS are generally the same shades as their female counterparts, no?

I'm thinking *maybe* pink is being used as another word for "cute" or "girlie". Because the giggles can't be pink...and "everything that's gay"-gay meaning fun and happy. So pink, IMO, might be more of the attitude than the skin color.

And maybe by being just as cute as blue, that means that they're "just as nice" when they're acting a bit harder or tougher or whatever.

Even if it means skin color, I don't think it's racist (though it could be used in a racist way, ie to make a girl of color feel uncomfortable being in a class of all white girls)

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

CookieMonsterMommy- You're teh awesome.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

: Also, it seems to reinforce gender stereotypes.

Yeah, I find the song problematic in that way and wouldn't want to use it, but sometimes I'm a little ticked by these things, so I take myself with a grain of salt.

ETA: it's the assumption that we all are aware of the cultural conditioning because it's so ground into us that we now think it's an inescapable part of our biology, but that if we are thinking outside the box, we could say, "Well, girls are nice in blue too." Which really doesn't even scratch the surface, and just kind of upholds the idea that sure, pink is for girls, but we know girls are fine in blue and heck, sometimes they might even want to be doctors or lawyers, which is fine as long as we realize they are still mostly pink. But the more I read it, the less it bothers me.

I *was* interpreting the pink from head to toe as meaning skin color, apart from whatever colors the tutus, tights, leotards, hair ribbons and cheek blush were. That explanation made the most sense for me in a song written for young children, which tend to be more directly representative rather than abstract. So my sense was the person who wrote it wasn't really thinking about other people's skin colors or experiences, as can often happen.

OK, so I figure out what bothered me on the first go-round. Basically if you haven't raised your children with the idea presented in this song, that little girls are really associated with pink and tutus and button noses, it's basically telling children that this is the way it is, but it's OK for girls not to be that way. So it is setting up the idea that maybe some people think it's not OK. I guess it's just kind of old-fashioned, and I thought we had gotten past this point already. I guess not.

[elizaveta]

I don't know! I think it just seems like a cute little song for little girls in tutus! I don't really think that that pink line that has been pointed out means exactly that. At least I wouldn't have taken it as that without it being pointed out. But then maybe some children might find it upsetting. I would think they would find it cute. But then who knows! Some people here saw racial context where I didn't, so I think every one sees things differently. I guess I might not risk it unless all the girls were "pink" but I've not seen any pink girls, so you might have a hard time finding them. Maybe you could paint them pink?

[MamaWindmill]

The lyrics seem sort of nonsensical to me. Gender, being a social construct rather than an absolute, is reinforced by our culture every day. Avoiding this particular song is not likely to change that. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, though, by all means drop it.

[Beeblebrox]

Doesn't seem racist at all to me. I see pink as an expression of being girly in the song and the outfits that one might wear in a ballet recital. Honestly, sometimes I think we over think things. Even if it reinforces gender stereotypes about girls liking pink...I guess it just doesn't get my hackles up.

[fek&fuzz]

I'm confused by it. If pink is for their skin color, then what does 'we're just as nice in blue" mean? that they are turning blue?

[Viola]

Maybe that's what she was worried about. That being blue means something more than what it appears. That maybe being in blue could be something about race, indicating someone with darker skin.

I'm not saying I saw it that way or that I would have picked up on it, but since she specifically asked about race, I was looking. I was kind of scratching my head at first, trying to get what she was after, I then realized how it *could* be interpreted as a racial thing, and how it might not feel inclusive to some girls. That is all.

Oh wait, that wasn't all. I just want to respond to this:

Even if it reinforces gender stereotypes about girls liking pink...I guess it just doesn't get my hackles up.

IRL I am not one to make waves. Apparently, I just like to get into discussions about the finer points of things on message boards. If I had enrolled my daughter in ballet and this was a song they danced to, I'd probably think it was cute, and about par for the course in a girl's dance class. And I might roll my eyes a bit at myself for not being as progressive as I thought I was or something, but that would be about it.

[glendora]

Originally Posted by MamaWindmill

If it makes you feel uncomfortable, though, by all means drop it.

That.

If you have doubts that it's appropriate, then find another song.