ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

Why are girls, and particularly young girls, drawn to the colour pink? Is it something society has instilled in them? Or is there something attractive about the colour itself? Shops seem to be full of pink clothes for young girls – are they reacting to demand or just forcing their designs upon children who would not otherwise choose this colour?

• I do not think young girls are naturally drawn to the colour pink. It is definitely something that society instils in them.

I grew up in India, where I wore a variety of colours and one would see dresses in all colours in shops. The notion that young girls prefer pink does not exist there, nor in some other Asian countries I have visited. It wasn’t until I moved to the US that I noticed any colour preference. I found it odd that new parents (or parents-to-be) bought specific colours for either gender.

This kind of gender-specific restriction is also present in areas other than colour, including the type of toys advertised specifically for boys and girls (dolls only for girls and mechanical toys only for boys). I believe that a highly commercialised society can instil such notions over time.

Rajeswari Satish, New Jersey, US

• There is evidence that females prefer red shades, especially purple, more often than men do. In tests done worldwide, there are always colour preferences between genders, which cut across cultural boundaries. For example, Anya Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling of the University of Newcastle in the UK found that Chinese boys and girls showed the same patterns of colour preference as American boys and girls (Current Biology, ). They concluded that the preferences are innate.

M. Morley, By email, no address supplied

• Folklore says girls prefer pink while boys choose blue. Hurlbert and Ling have suggested a genetic basis for this. In prehistoric times, men hunted while women gathered fruit and berries. They speculate that an ability to recognise ripe fruit, and a bias towards the red end of the spectrum, would have bestowed an evolutionary advantage.

Mike Follows, Willenhall, West Midlands, UK

• I’m not sure what attracts young girls to pink, but the preference may go rather deeper than your questioner realises. One method by which birdwatchers can ascertain the sex of starlings is by the colour of the base of their bills – pink in females and blue in males.

Rob Robinson, Principal Ecologist, British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, UK