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Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America
By Jo B. Paoletti (2012)
Reviewed by Michelle Meadows
Family and consumer sciences (FCS) has always been integrative in nature. This book follows that path, incorporating child development theory, gender studies, and other socio-historical perspectives in a comprehensive examination of the history of children's clothing in the United States from 1885 to 2011. The author spent 30 years on the research that culminated in this book. Her attention to detail is evident, and she draws from a multitude of sources to support the foundational idea of the cultural significance of clothing from a variety of perspectives.
The book examines the social meaning behind clothing choices, especially regarding genderrelated themes. It draws a distinction between our contemporary view of young children's clothing as an important source of gender identification and the historical perspective that clothing denoted age groups. The narrative is "based on a generational, developmental paradigm that looks at adults as grown-up children and examines the impact of childhood experiences on adult and children's dress of the next generation" (p. 15). Childhood from birth to around age 6 or 7 is addressed because at that stage, children are forming their understanding of gender- related dress and using that understanding to assist in their construction of gender identity. Therefore, the author draws from various psychological theories related to child development, gender development, and parenting styles.
Clothing has a history of denoting age, as opposed to...