Thursday, May 5, 2011

Let me have my Colour...

I went to the Decathlon store in Sarjapur on its second anniversary this weekend. My shopping experience at Decathlon has been exceptionally satisfactory till date. I get a huge range of merchandise to choose from and I get value for money.
However, this particular experience was somewhat disappointing. I was looking for a plain polo neck T-shirt. And after searching for quite some time the only Ladies' T-shirts I could find were round necks or V-necks, some even with gathers around neck (imagine a gathered neck top for Sportswear!). Finally I saw Polo neck NIKE t-shirts for Ladies and I was shocked to see that the only colours available were Pink and Bright Orange. And I realised that shades of Pink dominated almost the entire merchandise for Women available in the store.
First of all I simply do not understand how and why Pink became synonymous to women or womenhood. (Even the pills for women come in a Pink packaging!). I am sure I am not the only one who despises being typecasted in a colour and I am sure there will be many others like me who would like Blues, Greens, Blacks and whites. Then why this obsession with Pinks, obsession to an extent that we are being denied of the bare minimum choices that ought to be available to us?
I remember once a colleague of mine showed a photograph of a girl riding a Purple coloured Bullet. Well, if I could drive a Bullet, which I would have completely loved to, I would rather go for a classic Black coloured Bullet. I believe black is almost synonymous to something as regal and at the same time as rugged like a Bullet.
I am not against Pinks, purples, Violets. And I have absolutely nothing against the girl riding the Purple Bullet. The point I am trying to make is that I would have loved it if I also found pictures of women on Black Bullets and that I would appreciate it if I get my Colours as well in that Pink assortment.