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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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