‘Pink and Blue’ Boat Jobs

I think first heard the terms ‘pink’ jobs and ‘blue’ jobs on the day we moved onto our Perseverance back in 2017. The owner of the boat that was moored next to us at the time decided to ‘educate’ us newbies on how things worked in the Narrowboat world. I nearly puked over the side of the boat when he broadcasted his strong option on how boat jobs should be divided between the genders on a boat crew.  I actually didn’t know how to respond so probably just rolled my eyes and groaned.  I like to think that if I was in the same conversation today I’d be able to initiate an open conversation on why those terms are outdated and regressive and I’d hope the other person would be open to that discussion. With that in mind I’d be really grateful if you could please read this to the end with an open mind before you comment and I’d be happy to have that conversation here too. 

I was scrolling through instagram one night when I saw a post that referred to making tea as pink job and engine checks as blue boat and it provoked an irritation in me. It was obviously still on my mind the next morning as I decided to post a cheeky instagram poll. ‘Cheeky’ because the odds were stacked agains the casually sexist amongst those that happened across it. You could either vote that the terms pink and blue jobs were ridiculous or harmful. I’d argue that they were both, either way it didn’t matter because I didn’t give anyone the chance to signal their sexism, casual or otherwise, unless they took to the comments. Only one person chose to do that. It was a pretty interesting discussion. 

I have done a lot of reading and research on sexism, misogyny, the manosphere, public sexual harassment and many other issues within our patriarchal society over the last few years but I am still open and keen to learn more. I’m now going to summarise my thoughts on this particular phrase; I believe that using historically gendered colours to distinguish between jobs on the boat that should be performed by men and women is harmful to all sexes but especially to those who identify as women. By stating that a job is a pink job, you are broadcasting that it should be only done by a women, and if it done by a man then that man is doing ‘woman work’ or alternatively that he is not competent to do that work. It works the other way round too, by calling a job a blue job you are saying that it is ‘not for women’ and as a woman I can’t tell you the number of times ‘society’ has told me I cannot do something because of my gender. 

I’d argue that any boat job can be done by any gender. This is evident by the number of single handers and same sex house holds that manage not to sink or starve. I’d also like to make it clear that I have no issue with a house hold choosing to assign boat jobs between themselves even if these tasks fall along traditional gender roles. As long as everyone in that household agrees with how the jobs are divided or shared. I am all for individual choice. My issue objection starts when these jobs are labeled as pink or blue, because that is when we start broadcasting/dictating, what each sex should broadly be capable of. And that is just BS. The fact is, we live in a patriarchal society and that society is designed to keep women at a lower social status than men. This plays out in so many ways, and while the experience of women has been improving we are a long way from equality (gender pay gap, sexual violence and safety, opportunities, leadership roles to name just a few),  and I don’t really want to expand on that too much here, other than to say that broadcasting that there are a limited number of jobs that a woman can do on a boat, is just another small way that we hold up the patriarchy, limit they ability for a woman to be independent and perpetuate the idea that a woman inferior to a man. Men are also harmed by this. Historically society expects men to be the ones to understand how the engine works and how to fix the electrics and plumbing and that is toxic.  

It was pointed out to me that some people may use these terms ‘ironically’, I believe that even as a joke, sexist language is harmful. How can we trust every observer to distinguish between someone who is trying to be funny from someone who is being deliberately misogynistic. Even if you think you are using these terms in jest you are in danger of validating people who actually believe in these sexist values and that is of course is harmful. If you consider yourself to be against sexism, unless you are vocally speaking out when you hear sexist language you are still part of the problem. And that is the case no matter which sex you are. 

It was also suggested to me on that twitter (good old twitter) thread that:

“There is no harm if those roles are not forced upon us, you choose not to use them, fine, others are using them in an ironic way. I do the "Blue" jobs, partner does the "Pink" jobs not following traditional gender stereotypes, that is how you deal with it.”

I would point out that it is probably not a good look for any man to mansplain to a woman that she is not harmed by sexist stereotypes if they are not ‘not forced upon us’, when Sexist stereotypes (whether they are forced upon us or not) have been harming women (and men) for as long as she can remember and for a very long time before that.

He goes on to say that the way to deal with it is by simply ‘not following traditional gender stereotypes’. 

If we’d all known it was that easy all along then surely patriarchy would have crumbled decades ago!

Anyway I’d love to hear your thoughts too!