When November 7 Feminism issue of The Observer (Vol. 98) came out, I was ecstatic. I read it immediately upon receiving it. However, as the paper continued, I found myself steadily growing more and more disappointed. While the content was good, the way in which it was presented struck a chord with me. Every feminist article was titled in pink.

I can understand the rationale. Pink makes it readily identifiable. These articles are about feminism. However, the issue I have is mainly this: pink is not the color of feminism, it is the color of women.

As you can read on feminist.com, the most common colors associated with the feminist movement are purple and white. And while pink is used, because of the push for purple, I believe that there is no reason someone would theme their entire paper pink to reflect the subject matter at hand. With the exception, perhaps, that feminism is often seen as a “woman’s issue.”

One of the greatest hurdles feminism faces is the idea that it is only a woman’s issue. On your own cover is the statement “a movement for equality” and this fact is reiterated by feminists in various articles within. It should be clear that feminists do not consider this a woman’s issue, but a human issue. We are all affected by gender inequality.

By using the color pink, it felt to me like the entire paper was stratifying the subject, categorizing it as solidly a woman’s issue. Anything in black, therefore, was not something women would be interested in. I felt as though The Observer were making a comment on my gender and what should interest my gender despite the fact that the paper was supposed to be tackling gender disparity, not causing it. The association with women is something that feminists are actively fighting, to try and make gender equality more inclusive, and I think there could have been better ways to indicate it in your paper.