Did you
know?

pink-collar
adjective

- a pink-collar job is one that is traditionally done by a woman

- of, relating to, or constituting a class of employees in occupations (such as nursing and clerical jobs) traditionally held by women

The Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The term pink-collar was popularized in the late 1970s by writer and social critic Louise Kapp Howe to denote women working as nurses, secretaries, and elementary school teachers. Its origins, however, go back to the early 1970s, when the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was placed before the U.S. states for ratification.

Nowadays, the meaning has changed to encompass all service jobs including waiters, retail clerks, salespersons, certain unlicensed assistive personnel.

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COLLAR-COLOUR QUIZ

Can you guess the occupations associated with the following collar colours?

- White collar

- Blue collar

- Red collar

- Orange collar

- Green collar

- Scarlet collar

- Black collar

- Grey collar

- Gold collar

- No collar

(scroll down for answers)

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- White collar worker = A salaried professional typically referring to general office workers and management.

- Blue collar = a member of the working class who performs manual labor and either earns an hourly wage or is paid piece rate for the amount of work done.

- Orange collar worker = Prison laborers, named for the orange jumpsuits commonly worn by inmates.

- Green collar worker = Workers in a wide range of professions relating to the environment and renewable energy.

- Scarlet collar worker = Workers in the sex industry (also called the sex trade), either directly or indirectly providing sex-related products and services or adult entertainment.

- Black collar worker = Manual labourers in industries in which workers generally become very dirty, such as mining or oil-drilling (has also been used to describe workers in illegal professions).

- Grey collar worker = Elderly individuals working beyond the age of retirement.

- Gold collar worker = Highly-skilled knowledgeable people such as doctors, lawyers, scientists and also young, low wage workers who also get parental support.

- No collar worker = Artists and “free spirits” who tend to privilege passion and personal growth over financial gain.


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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“The term PINK-COLLAR jobs remind us about how culturally ingrained is pink for girls and blue for boys .”

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