Pink Is for Sissies
"A... heart? (I feel my masculinity going... going... gone.)"
The idea in fiction that a male character, when wearing pink, actively manages to lose a great deal of his more masculine qualities, if not outright accused of being gay. This results not just in other people making snarky and rude remarks to him, but may actually result in distinct changes in his character.
Tomboys may also object to this color because it's girlish. As can women who think it's childish.
The trope is the reason Real Men Wear Pink is named so. When women are seen as sissy for wearing pink it also fits into Real Women Never Wear Dresses.
A Sub-Trope of Pink Means Feminine.
See also Pink Girl, Blue Boy.
Anime
- In Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, main character (and zombie) Ayumu Aikawa accidentally steals Magical Girl Haruna's powers, which allows him to use her powers...and gets turned into a Crossdresser in the process. Made a lot more hilarious in Season 2, where he breaks the magical weapon and is unable to erase people's memories of himself while wearing the magical girl outfit, and then it turns out that that actually made him even more popular, much to his chagrin at trying to live a normal life.
Fan Works
- In Turnabout Storm, Phoenix recieves from Twilight Sparkle the Equestrian Attorney Badge. It's a pink heart-shapped badge, and he's not the least bit amused by it. Even Pinkie Pie, a pink pony, cracks up at him for flashing that thing around.
Phoenix: (Even the citizens of this place can see this thing looks embarrassingly stupid...)
Film
- In Operation Petticoat, the submarine is painted pink, because what could be obtained on short notice was red paint and white paint but not enough of either.
- "Why am I Mr. Pink?"
- "Because you're a faggot, alright?"
Literature
- The the Alcatraz Series, Alctatraz Smedry complains about having to travel in a pink flying vehicle shaped like a butterfly. He says it is not masculine enough.
Live Action Television
- One Friends episode centered on Ross trying to retrieve his
pink"Salmon red!" shirt from his ex's place. - Mentioned on Modern Family, "Mother's Day":
Cameron: We hate when people treat us (gay men) like women, Okay? We don't want to go to your baby shower, we don't have that time of the month, and we don't love the color pink.
Mitchell: You love pink.
Cameron: No, pink loves me.
- On Star Trek: The Next Generation in the episode Qpid Q threw the bridge crew into his recreation of Robin Hood, giving Worf the role of Will Scarlet, with a matching pink and red hued wardrobe. Worf was not content, protesting that he was not a merry man.
Tabletop Games
- Player-created joke unit "Pretty Marines" from Warhammer 40,000 have lavender paintjob and rose motifs.
Video Games
- In Escape from Monkey Island, Guybrush is greatly distressed to find out that his new ship is pink.
Webcomics
Web Original
- In Red vs. Blue, when Donut gets his own colored armor — and it turns out to be pink, however much he insists it's really lightish red — this becomes the impetus for his Flanderization as the series goes on.
- In SOTF-TV each character is sorted into a color-coded team. Everyone on the Pink team happens to be male. Naturally, they tend to get a lot of in-universe mocking, and this hasn't gone without a Lampshade Hanging. The best example would be their mentor reminding two members to put their shirts back on, since Pink Team was being called "the gay team".
Mike Patterson: "Oh, uh hello again. I forgot to ask, but um, would one of you boys mind putting on a shirt? People are calling Pink the um, well... 'Gay Team' - err, I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, um, if you are. Uh yeah, that's all. Take care."
Western Animation
- One episode of The Simpsons has Homer freaking out because his work shirts have all turned pink, due to Bart throwing his lucky red cap into the washer while Marge wasn't looking. Marge insists that it won't be a big deal. Cut to the morning grind, where Burns and Doctor Monroe have singled Homer out for "freakish tendencies" and begin plotting for his sanity evaluation.
- Bear in mind that most of the bad things that happen to Homer in this episode are clearly his own fault: Upon being given a take-home psychiatric evaluation, Homer loafs around, trying to get other people to fill it out for him. Eventually, Bart fills out and Homer is predictably thrown into a mental institution when he turns it in without even looking at it.
- Also, Homer's objection wasn't so much to the fact that it was pink, as that it would make him stand out. He said something to the effect of "I'm not popular enough to be different!"
Real Life
- The Italian city of Palermo is in the heart of mafia and machismo territory in Sicily. But its football club turns out in pink every Saturday as a challenge to the opposition and not many people dare joke about it...
- The SAS are some of the hardest and toughest pro soldiers in the world. Yet they discovered the best camoflage colour for some types of desert is a vivid salmon pink. Nobody cares to challenge the masculinity of soldiers who go to war in pink vehicles...