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The Psychology Of Color
By Dr. Alycia Ellison
Part Two
Subscribers can read Part One | Part Two
As often noted, color has a visual impact on our lives. The world
would be a dreary place if one did not see the beauty of his surroundings. In
your minds eye, picture a barren surrealistic landscape in black and white,
and note the effect on your psyche. It has been
said, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is true to some
extent, but the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, the sun rays reflecting off
of waves crashing on distant shores, mountain streams. Or moonlight
glistening on the snow covered mountain crests is nature's beautiful canvas
and often the subject of many paintings and photographs.
Color and all our emotions are in tune
with our color wheel , what we feel and what we perceive. Take for example one of the primary colors, Blue. This color has been used for many years to denote the masculine gender and in fact is possibly one of the favorite
masculine colors.
Blue
One day as I sat listening to a depressed male telling me his tale of woe I realized why it is such an appropriate color for men.
This man was a very serious researcher
and generally worked alone in his quest for information in his laboratory. The client's relations with his mate were distant as he was also a very
private person and, as I suspected, teetering along as communication verbal or
silent was virtually non-existent. He was wearing at that time a dark blue pair of pants, a navy blue sport coat
and a light blue shirt. The world is filled with depressed males and their blues.
Consider the way we use this color: "once in a blue moon", blue Monday when the Stock Market crashes, playing the "blues". It also conveys depravity, such as profanity or off color behavior, "blue" jokes etc.
Yet blue is also the color of the sky and sea. It is a color for silence and power and aren't men brought up to feel no pain, to suffer in silence and to show no emotion. A man must be strong at all times never to wear his emotions on his
sleeve or to risk the jibes of his buddies as being a sissy.
Now let us proceed to the female side of the scale. Her life begins with a pink blanket. Pink is created by combing red and white. Take out the white, that most innocent of colors and the sultry color of femininity emerges.
Vibrant alive and affirming life, red the a direct opposite of the male color and image.
Girls are brought up to show emotions , smile
and in general are far more open and receptive to stimuli than their male
counterpart. Perhaps this is related in part again to their inborn color
wheel as depicted by the pink blanket.
Red
Think of the dynamics of the color
red, the fiery nature of the sun, the spectacular color of sunsets, it is
certainly a center of focus. And what does a young lothario bring his first
date? A red rose, signifying a new approach or more importantly a
new way of life.
Red is the color of our existence, our life blood and
source of our energy. Red is life and is hot and sultry as a summer day .
But, it is also the seed of nefariousness, as one pictures the red light districts or its warning of a
danger to life and limb as if carelessly disregarded our life blood will
spill out in a ever widening circle, hence the red light on a crowded street
or a red beacon shining on a empty sea at night warning of the shoals ahead.
In contrast to blue and depression in males, the effect of red can alleviate depression. Red is a
call for action similar to that seen in a bull ring as the toreador flaunts
his cape in from of a raging bull. Witness the winning smile on a lady with
sultry red lips who is wearing a red suit or dress.
However, red is the color of anger and when released it can agitate crowds, destroy friendships or endanger lives,
as it increases blood pressure, respiration and heart rate. But when
kept in check it is a vital force for building or rebuilding confidence in
human relationships. Red it passionate and passion is the life blood of love and
relationships. Without red there is no life.
Now let us examine my favorite color, yellow. This was the color that led the
Vikings to victory and its force comes from the color of the sun: self generating and self renewing. It is the
color of the interior of life, the birth of the chicken is in the yellow of
the egg, the vision of mankind is in the macula of the eye .
It can be
perceived as the wealth of a nation or viewed as the false bravado of men who
corrupt the truth in search of wealth as is the case with yellow
journalism. A relationship built on cowardice (yellow ) or fool's gold is as weak as
a house built on sand.
But yellow also exists for the innovator, the inventor and those who show originality
and wisdom. It is a color of the true introvert, introspective and
discriminator. It's mystical power allows it to bring cheer, infuse one with hope and
enlighten a world filled with skepticism and darkness allowing one to clarify
with startling awareness the murky working of unfinished business and
confusing endeavors of the mind.
These are the powers, strengths and weakness of colors which when combined together can exert their collective influence and
produce a highly positive influence or can produce a devastatingly negative
result.
Now you may ask, what has this to do with crossdressing? For
basically speaking in the man's world, color and style does not really exist.
According to an article in our newspaper, Harrah, one of the largest
manufacturers of men's slacks, were made in basically blue, black, grey and
brown colors. The article noted that 80% of these were purchased for their men by women
and because of this they were shifting their advertising accounts to women's
magazines. According to the Van Heusan Design group, the safest
colors men can use are you, guessed it, black, navy, grey and khaki. Again,
these are neutral colors because men are afraid of standing out and for most
part, muted colors and dark colors go over in business better than bright
colors.
For the adventuresome soul, a daring splash of color in a tie is acceptable. But most men feel more comfortable with no more than the three basic
colors. Dark colors especially send a message of power and competency, whereas
light colors will make you seem more approachable, more friendly supposedly
as they take the edge off of appearing to being strong or aggressive. With
these colors in mind let us now explore the basic of all non-colors but in
reality without which blending would not be possible. Since everything as we
have started to notice is not all black and white.
Now let us consider the innocence of youth regardless of gender, for
this brings to mind, the color white, which is a reflection of all colors or
one could say the absence of color. It cannot by it self be influenced by any
outside source. Dignity, a strong sense of purpose, ethereal in nature, this
is white.
Consider the baptismal gown of the babe, the confirmation gown of
the young lady joining the church, the bride in all her innocence but above
all, the angel, exhibits the godly character of this color. It alone has the
power to diffuse energy or tone down any emotion reflected by any primary
color as it hides nothing and diffuses emotions.
It signifies purity of
thought, wisdom and experience with nothing to hide. In many ways it can be
considered a good camouflage as the savior of mankind or virgin girls, The
supreme protector, the man in the white hat, or Sir Lancelot riding his white
horse to save the princess in distress.
Thus when used appropriately such as
mixed with red, it becomes a gentle pink and one thinks now of gentleness
and quality, no longer hard edged or angry exposing a new freshness and a
zest for life.
The other non-color is black, it is like night for nothing is
perceived through it It is the essence of mystery, evil and destruction. It
absorbs all available color, reflecting none. Thus, black imparts a
mysterious quality to those who wear it and when diluted by white making
shades of grey, it tends to make the wearer a non-entity, a shadowy figure
and one who wants to stay in the background.
In men, as stated, it signifies
power, competency, aggressiveness and seriousness of purpose. In women, it
denotes prestige, wealth and culture as epitomized by the black cocktail
dress or basic black dress ,which universally is always in style. It
signifies warmth and intimacy and a mysterious come hither air and intrigue
as noted also by the passionate effects of black lingerie as well as power
and cruelty as epitomized by the man who wears a black hat. In western
culture , it also depicts sadness and grief when worn to funerals or times of
morning as it is self absorbing.
For More Information on Color and Style Visit the How To Section of the Main Library
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