Editor’s Note: A big shout-out to Brittany Morrow for giving me the idea for this piece. Rock the Gear!

Few colors are as loved, hated, stereotyped, judged, engendered and disdained as pink. It’s baby girls and breast cancer survivors; pretty princesses and Little Miss Piggy; Victoria’s Secret sexiness and poodle skirt prudishness; a proud mark of femininity and a hated symbol of the oppressiveness of sexism. There was even a movement back in 2012 to discredit it as an actual color.

When we first launched Woman Rider in March 2017, the backlash we received for choosing hot pink as an accent color for our logo and website was a bit shocking. Nearly all of it came from women who were aghast that an outlet meant to empower, educate and support female riders would use such a stereotypical color.

Want to learn more about the science of being seen? Check it out.

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Hey, I get it. I’ve never been what you’d call a girly girl, and you’ll never see a bedazzled anything on my person. Apparel makers haven’t helped, sticking with the “pink it and shrink it” philosophy of offering women’s gear that’s less robust and feature-rich than the men’s stuff—and adding insult to injury by making it pink.

But pink is “our” color, whether we like it or not, and I say we stand up and own it, much as the Suffragettes in England took what was a derogatory label and wore it proudly as they fought for (and won) women’s right to vote.

Spidi womens suit BMW G 310 GS
Apparel manufacturers are getting better at making quality women’s gear that fits, is functional and still looks feminine. This 2-piece 4Season suit by Spidi is a great example of a manufacturer doing it right. Photo by Kevin Wing.

Besides, there’s a growing amount of evidence backing up the idea that pink—blaze, florescent or hot pink, not the powdery Disney princess variety—is the safest, most visible color you can wear if you ride in a variety of environments.

The basis for that assertion lies partly in the reasoning behind the debate I referenced earlier, which argued that pink isn’t really a color. The truth is, of course, complicated (shades of pink?). What we think of as “color” is all in our heads—wavelengths of light at varying intensities enter our eyes, are picked up by the 6 to 7 million red-, green- or blue-sensitive cones and are interpreted by our brains.

Pink is not part of the light spectrum. If it were, it would sit between red (the slowest) at one end and violet (the fastest) at the other. So if it can’t be created using light, how do we see it? Without diving too deeply into the science (check the references at the end if you’re really curious), “color” can be additive (light-based) or subtractive (pigment-, dye- or chemical-based). Pink is a subtractive color, and in florescent form is rarely found in nature—which is a big part of why it’s so conspicuous.

Because it isn’t on the light spectrum, pink can’t be measured like high-viz yellow/green, which makes it hard to objectively study. For example, a recent study concluded that the most visible color to the human eye, at least in daylight, is a very specific 555-nanometer wavelength that creates a bright green.

This bicyclist's hot pink jacket stands out against the orange and yellow in the background.
This bicyclist’s hot pink jacket stands out against the orange and yellow in the background.

But there’s another major component of visibility: contrast. A 1980 study entitled “Human Factors in Transport Research” found that “the most important issue with clothing is the contrast the motorcyclist makes with his background.” One more recent Dutch study concluded that, “…contrast with the environment is a major factor to improve conspicuity. …the magnitude of the effect depended on the surroundings.” This tells us two things:

  • Our chances of being seen by other drivers increases if we contrast with our environment, and
  • How much we contrast depends on our environment.

This is where florescent pink emerges as a potential winner.

The 555-nanometer bright green is great…as long as you’re not riding in a wooded, grassy or rural area. High-viz yellow can have the same problems. Blaze orange is better, but in urban areas you might blend in more (think construction cones) and in a rural autumn environment you’re just another pretty leaf.

Hot Pink girl on Ninja
This lime green Kawasaki blends in a bit with the grassy background, but the hot pink sections of my Spidi suit and Shoei helmet stand out. Photo by Kevin Wing.

Hot pink, though, always stands out.

And other outdoor groups are finally taking notice. One anecdotal study done by the New York State Search & Rescue organization determined that international blaze orange and florescent pink were the most visible to helicopters and search teams, and consequently determined that all its teams would use florescent pink for flagging evidence and clues.

Several archery forums I visited have discussion threads and even polls about the most visible color for arrow fletching (the “feathers” and wrapping at the end of an arrow). Guess which color they like best? (Although the “I can’t bring myself to use a girl’s color” teeth gnashing from some of the guys is pretty hilarious.)

And, just in the last few months, there has been a movement in the hunting community to include blaze pink as a legal color for hunting apparel (blaze orange has been the standard for years). As of April 2018, seven states have voted to allow blaze pink hunting apparel: Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Virginia, New York, Wisconsin and Maryland.

From a 2015 study by Majid Sarmadi, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison:

“It is well known that blaze orange provides a very good contrast in the wooded areas in the spring and summer. However, when visually compared to the orange colors found in the fall leaves, blaze orange was harder to detect than the pink colors that were tested. The pink colors provided a better color contrast. Our spectrometric analysis indicated that the blaze pink that was tested had similar visibility to most blaze orange hats and was even better than a couple of them. Therefore, based on this small study, it can be concluded that the blaze pink we tested were as safe as the ‘Orange Blaze’ hunting hats.”

Funnily enough, the backlash from some female senators and hunting advocates has been similar to what we see in the motorcycle community when it comes to pink—that it’s sexist and shoves women into a pretty pink box—but with solid research behind it as well as the support of plenty of women who just plain like pink (Maryland’s hunting apparel bill was proposed by two sisters who loved to hunt, and sponsored by a female senator known for her affinity for pink blouses), the case for pink is gaining traction.

So this isn’t to say that you have to start wearing pink gear…but if you like it, wear it proudly and know that not only are you proclaiming your badassery as a woman rider, you’re also likely safer because of it.

References so you know I didn’t just make all this up:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/stop-this-absurd-war-on-the-color-pink/

https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-03/metaphysics-color-and-defense-pink

https://gizmodo.com/if-the-color-pink-doesnt-scientifically-exist-why-can-1464266788

http://webvision.med.utah.edu/book/part-viii-gabac-receptors/color-perception/

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/HunterEd/Alternative-Hunter-Safety-Color.pdf

http://www.ihea-usa.org/images/Articles/BlazePinkSummary.pdf

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/whats-hot/this-is-the-most-visible-color-in-the-world/ar-BBAZYLg

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=579666

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/archery/84325-blazer-vanes-color-finding-woods-shot-poll.html

http://newyorksearchandrescue.org/downloads.html

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Pink is not “our” color. Fine if you want to make it a safety issue. But, don’t you ever get sick of manufacturers who think that not only is gear made for 20 year olda, it MUST contain a hint of pink? Used to be “his” color until the early 50’s. Another way society determines and we condone it.

  2. Pink is fine but a skirt with bare legs? Are you kidding me? How sexist and blatantly bad advice. Get any photo of a woman riding a motorcycle with bare legs, or bare arms OFF YOUR SITE! Are you crazy? SMH. How insane, stupid, condescending, ridiculous, showing a woman riding with a tulle skirt and bare legs. I may unsubscribe from this photo. Lame.

  3. Having the free will to ride a motorcycle and a lot of support from males and females alike hardly compares to not legally having the right to vote. We are not being prosecuted. Keep the pink, whatever, but lose the victim mentality along with the tutu and a teddy bear. I’ll go elsewhere for actual helpful content.

  4. In addition to the comment about bare legs, what is up with wearing your eye protection over your chin bar rather than protecting your eyes? As dear old mom used to say, you get only two eyes…

    That aside, a very interesting article. I teach Driver Education (an excellent fit for a retired police officer) and have already mentioned the “Case for Pink” in my classroom.

    By the way, I hope that you ladies do not object to a gentleman reading your column. Most of it applies to both genders anyway and I have always supported women riders since riding with a (female) friend in high school.

  5. I think this photo is brilliant. I read an article about the woman on the KTM with the tutu. The article mentioned that she’s an IT professional. Kudos to her since she works in a “male-dominated” field.

    I personally don’t have a problem with the color pink, I’ve proudly worn pink when riding the streets and when on the track. I mainly wear it on the streets because of its high visibility as I can’t stand the colors, orange and yellow. What I really would like to see is more riding gear options for women, specifically in various shapes and sizes. Euro suits are really small and made for slender women, I’m Latin with wide hips, I find myself purchasing a woman’s jacket and men’s pants then altering the pants so they fit properly. Let’s keep the pink, but offer more options for women’s riding gear.

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