‘I am Lenni’

Boys, sexualisation, and the dangerous colour pink

Bibliographic Data

ID19002869
AuthorsAnnamari Vänskä (0000-0002-7404-9080, Aalto University, Finland and Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation, Donghua University, China, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume22
Issue3
Pages296-309
Publication date2017-11-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSexualities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-4607 • E-ISSN: 1461-7382
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1363460717736720
OpenAlexW2767555703
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited23

On 31 May 2015, a self-identified mother, Mari Niinikoski published an open post on Facebook. It was about her son, Lenni, and how adults constantly ridiculed him in various social situations for cross-dressing and for his interest in girly stuff and the colour pink. This article asks why it is a problem that a little boy likes pink and wants to wear a dress? Why is liking ‘girly stuff’ considered detrimental for boys? What is at stake – especially when the history of men and fashion indicates that skirts, dresses and pink were long part of a masculine wardrobe? When did skirts, dresses and pink become feminised and signs of deviant sexuality? To answer these questions, the article will address the question of fashion and sexuality, the history of skirts and dresses, the changing meanings of the colour pink, the problem of heteronormative childhood, and, lastly, the problem of hegemonic masculinity

Art · Hegemonic masculinity · Hegemony · Human sexuality · Masculinity · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Gender Studies · Law · Media, Gender, and Advertising

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