Orwell, Animal Farm and Colour Types
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
(George Orwell, Animal Farm)
There are people who believe that their Colour Type (CT) is inferior (or superior) to another CT. Why is that? Is it because of the media? Hmmm…. In the media there are all kinds of CTs represented and celebrated. It is possible, but I would not put the blame solely on the media. Is it cultural? Well, I could imagine that in some cultures either the rarest or the most common CT could be the preferred one or the more celebrated one (and this may or may not be reflected in the media). Or is it because someone very close to the child told him or her that something inherent to his/her natural colouring is ugly? The seed of the discomfort with one’s CT might come from the family as well.
Culture
From a cultural perspective, in the UK for example, children with ginger hair have often been bullied at school by their peers. From a colour theory perspective, gingers are most frequent among the Spring and Autumn Colour Types, especially among the Warm/True Springs and Warm/True Autumns. Can you imagine what is it like to grow up feeling ugly because your schoolmates constantly pick on your hair colour?
Furthermore, in the children’s clothing section in stores, clothes for little girls are often bright magenta, pastel pink, cool violet, baby blue…, i.e. ideal colours for Cool/True Summer, Cool/True Winter or Light Summer children. But how about the rest? Imagine a little ginger Warm/True Autumn girl. Do you know what happens to her face, her hair and eyes the moment she wears cool baby blue or pink? Children pick on her at school because of her hair colour (-> she feels ugly and wishes she had any other hair colour but her own) and the department stores dress her in cool pastels and she looks in the mirror and all she sees is disharmony (-> she may think the problem is HER, i.e. not the dress -> she thinks she is ugly).
I believe all CTs should be celebrated and there should be greater variety of colours in stores not only for adults, but children as well.
Family
While I have been studying PCA, I came across women in comment sections who believed that their CT is not good enough. For example, some women wished they had the same CT as their mother. They would write on discussion boards something along the lines (I paraphrase):
“I wish I had nice blue eyes as my mother. Instead, I’ve inherited my dad’s brown eyes and those are not as beautiful.”…
“I wish I were a Cool/True Summer as my mother as that is the most beautiful CT. I am a Warm/True Autumn and Warm/True Autumns aren’t as beautiful and sophisticated.”…
“I am a Bright/Clear Winter, my colours are so bright and vivid, I wish I were a Summer like my sister, she and her colours look so elegant, she is so much more beautiful.”…
“My son inherited my golden brown eyes and is most probably a Soft Autumn. His grandfather forces him to wear cool blues and greens and bans him from wearing warm earthy tones as he says those colours are ugly. It saddens me because the colours that suit my son are the colours in his eyes and hair - warm, bronzy, golden, soft warm browns, butter yellow, moss green - but my father-in-law is somehow against them as he believes such colours are not “manly” enough.”
On top of that, I can imagine a narcissistic mother forcing her best colours (e.g. Deep/Dark Autumn) on her daughter who is a completely different CT (e.g. Light Summer) to only point out that she, the mother, is superior in her beauty to her daughter. The mother might frequently repeat that deep, warm and muted colours are sophisticated and such women are very beautiful who can wear them well. (Think of the Evil Queen in Snow White who couldn’t bear anyone more beautiful, i.e. youthful, in her kingdom.) The daughter, unaware of the colour theory and her own CT, may as well start to believe that she is ugly. Deep/Dark Autumn colours next to her Light Summer face are not her friends! It is fist class ticket to looking unhealthy, pale, invisible, even slightly yellowed. This girl is not given the opportunity to see her own individual beauty outside of the context of her mother. She thinks she is mousy, uninteresting, pale and everything but stunning…
This may or may not sound familiar to you. Those of you whom that resonates with, please read the following lines very carefully and repeatedly.
There is no better or worse Colour Type. There is no superior Colour Type. All Colour Types are equally beautiful. There is no hierarchy. No Colour Type is more or less interesting / sexy / harmonious / appealing that any other. Colour theory is science. Every human can be colour analysed and nature holds everything in a perfect balance. Your natural pigments are a unique combination of hue, value and chroma colour properties. In the right context, your skin looks healthy and vibrant but in a context that is in disharmony with your natural pigments, the image will be less appealing. ALL COLOUR TYPES ARE EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL. Your Colour Type is wonderful.
Did you ever wish you were a different CT? Do you believe all CTs are equally beautiful? Does your family feature as well as celebrate all different kinds of CTs or do you believe that a particular CT is slightly (or strongly) preferred (or disliked)?
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