Busting Stereotypes 1. Men Can Wear Pink too!

Busting Stereotypes 1. Men Can Wear Pink too!

I want to bust (destroy) the stereotype that "pink is for girls".

I went to the Marché Bonamoussadi, in my town of Douala, on Monday the 16th October 2017.

When I went to buy a new bag, I chose pink.

The seller said: "Voici les bleus." (It is French for "here are the blue ones.")

I took the pink bag, because I liked it.

(He wanted to sell it to me for twelve thousand francs CFA, but I negotiated and got it at five thousand francs, less than half his price.)

There is the stereotype that the colour pink is for women. People also think that a man who wears pink is a homosexual.

Colour on its own has no meaning. It was made by God. It is people who give meanings to colours.

When you were born you had no such concerns. But you started learning from other people (through socialization) that "pink is for girls", while "blue is for boys". It became your habitual thinking.

Anybody can be trained to believe anything, from childhood.

Here are some man-made beliefs which may not be right:

1. "You should not greet people with your left hand."

What has the left hand done? If it was bad why did God give it to us? It is human beings who made the rule, not God. The left hand is as good as the right hand.

2. "Older people are always wiser than younger people."

This belief feeds the pride of people. It tries to make you feel superior to those younger than you. It is not true. Older people may have more experience but wisdom is different. There are adults and elderly people who do foolish, harmful things, like stealing, insulting people, fornicating, getting drunk, and ignoring other people's useful opinions. That is not wisdom.

Examine your beliefs. Don't blindly swallow what everyone says. My main source of advice is the Bible.

God does not say men should not wear pink.

So will you keep living in fear of "what people say", or will you free yourself?