JK Rowling & the Color Pink
So I'm working on a thing about queer coding in the Harry Potter books... and first I needed to do a sidebar on how the color pink is used. Iâve made a list of every time a character either wears pink, or is heavily associated with a pink object. We actually get some pretty clear categories that are unintentionally very revealing, and say a lot about how JKR sees "girly" femininity.
Letâs start off with the obvious:Â
Petunia Dursley: âsalmon-pink cocktail dress," "neat salmon-colored coat." Also paints her walls "a sickly peach color."
Gilderoy Lockhart: âlurid pink robes to match the decorationsâÂ
Pansy Parkinson: âvery frilly robes of pale pinkâÂ
Rita Skeeter: âlong nails were painted shocking pinkâÂ
Aunt Muriel: âfeathery pink hat gave her the look of a bad-tempered flamingo.âÂ
(Aunt Muriel only shows up briefly at Bill and Fleurâs wedding, but then proceeds to insult pretty much every other character, and give Harry an existential crisis by spilling the tea on Dumbledore)
Dolores Umbridge: âa horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan.âÂ
(Also: has pink stationary, and her pamphlet MUDBLOODS and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society has a pink cover)Â
(Okay. Not a villain per se, BUT. Cho is the reason the mole gets into the DA in the books (and just is the mole in the films.) And given that she is a sort of Umbridge-aligned sub villain in book 5, at least structurally... it IS interesting that the place she brings Harry for a date has this very pink, Umbridge-coded description.Â
It was a cramped, steamy little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows. Harry was reminded unpleasantly of Umbridgeâs office. âCute, isnât it?â said Cho happily. âEr . . . yeah,â said Harry untruthfully. âLook, sheâs decorated it for Valentineâs Day!â said Cho, indicating a number of golden cherubs that were hovering over each of the small, circular tables, occasionally throwing pink confetti over the occupants.
Fleur Delacour: â[her wand] emitted a number of pink and gold sparks.âÂ
(Also not quite a villain, and I adore Fleur BUT⌠sheâs written hyper-femme in an intimidating, borderline threatening way. Sheâs very opinionated, bordering on rude. Sheâs âfull of herselfâ as Ginny puts it. And when she gets engaged to Bill and becomes an unambiguously good guy, she has this interesting moment of ~Pink Rejection~)
â. . . Bill and I âave almost decided on only two bridesmaids, Ginny and Gabrielle will look very sweet togezzer. I am theenking of dressing zem in pale gold â pink would of course be âorrible with Ginnyâs âair ââ
Hermione Granger: âWearing a pink bathrobe and a frownâ
(Hermione wears pink exactly one time, and it is at her most villainous⌠during Book 1, when she tries to stop Harry and Ron leaving in the middle of the night to go duel Malfoy.)
A voice spoke from the chair nearest them, âI canât believe youâre going to do this, Harry.â A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown. âYou!â said Ron furiously. âGo back to bed!â âI almost told your brother,â Hermione snapped, âPercy â heâs a prefect, heâd put a stop to this.â Harry couldnât believe anyone could be so interfering.
(She literally does the sitting-in-the-dark, villain-lamp thing. Also, in case you were wondering, yes Hermione DOES get a moment of ~Pink Rejection~)
Near the window was an array of violently pink products around which a cluster of excited girls was giggling enthusiastically. Hermione and Ginny both hung back, looking wary.
PINK = SILLY/FRIVOLOUS (FEMME)Â
Sybill Trelawney: âafter youâve broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue-patterned ones? Iâm rather attached to the pink.â
(Sheâs a fraud. Also hides empty bottles of sherry in the room of requirement. (Iâm going to have to be uncharitable in this section, so am sorry.)Â
Parvati Patil: ârobes of shocking pink"
(Often described as âgiggling,â thinks Professor Trelawney is amazing, the real deal.)
The Fat Lady: âa very fat woman in a pink silk dress.âÂ
(Often described as giggling. Drinks too much during the holidays. JRK is unfortunately well known for being fatphobic. Also the Fat Lady has a friend named Violet, and Parvati has a friend named Lavender. Not really going anywhere with that, just funny that theyâre both shades of purple.)
Hepzibah Smith: âan immensely fat old lady wearing an elaborate ginger wig and a brilliant pink set of robes.âÂ
(So⌠almost identical description to the Fat Lady. And I think we should maybe talk about her more, maybe? Because the way sheâs framed⌠I think she might be Tom Riddleâs sugar mamma?)
âI brought you flowers,â he said quietly, producing a bunch of roses from nowhere. âYou naughty boy, you shouldnât have!â squealed old Hepzibah, though Harry noticed that she had an empty vase standing ready on the nearest little table. âYou do spoil this old lady, Tom. . . .âÂ
(Or maybe we⌠shouldnât talk about that. Either way, Tom Riddle does kill her, steal her stuff, and frame her house elf so thats⌠not great.)
âEveryone take a pair of earmuffs,â said Professor Sprout. There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasnât pink and fluffy.
(Pink fluffy earmuffs are adorable.)
âWash out your mouth,â said James coldly. âScourgify!â Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snapeâs mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag.
(The next two example are 'pranks' as well, I think the pink-colored soap is there to add a kind of insult to injury.)
Shocking-pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers.Â
(This is a bit from Fred and Georgeâs farewell firework show, it's funny that theyâre specifically pink fireworks that Umbridge canât get rid of.)
âHeadless Hats!â shouted George, as Fred waved a pointed hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather at the watching students. âTwo Galleons each â watch Fred, now!â Fred swept the hat onto his head, beaming. For a second he merely looked rather stupid, then both hat and head vanished.
(also just, pumping up an embarrassing moment)
Hagridâs flowered pink umbrella, which contains his broken wand, is brought up a lot. In this case I think weâre meant to see it as a joke. Hagridâs so big, and so masc, but the pink umbrella makes him non-threatening. However⌠the pink umbrella, itâs not a totally positive thing, is it? It doesnât match, it isnât *him.* Hagrid wouldn't have chosen to carry this around, totally on his own, if he'd had any other choice. It sets him apart, both visually and socially (because it's a constant reminder that he doesn't have a wand.)
Dobby, once he is freed, gets pink-and-orange striped socks, and theyâre meant to communicate that heâs⌠kind of a lot. âYeh get weirdos in every breed,â as Hagrid puts it. JKR has a very strange, honestly antagonistic relationship with Dobby. Heâs the victim of book 2, but structurally kind of the villain? He describes the house-elves situation as âenslavement,â but Hermioneâs treated as overdramatic for calling house-elves slaves two books later. And then everything is ret-conned and Dobby is⌠just kind of weird for liking freedom (and socks) as much as he does.
Book!Tonks defaults to âbubblegum-pinkâ hair. Her hair is described as pink a lot. (Movie!Tonks defaults to purple hair, because they were worried that pink would visually align her with Umbridge.) And this is the oddest one on the list to me, because Tonks is such a universally beloved, fan favorite character. But I really do think that *as written*... weâre supposed to put her in a category with Dobby. The two of them leave (unintentional) destruction in their wake. Theyâre loud, theyâre a lot, they take up too much space. Harry thinks theyâre both kind of annoying. (and yeah, Harry 100% thinks Tonks is âa little annoying at times.â)