pink-collar

English

WOTD – 29 November 2016

Women working at a Wacoal lingerie factory in Thailand

Alternative forms

• pink collar

Etymology

From pink +‎ collar. By analogy with various constructions ending in the word collar, especially blue-collar, and from the traditional conception of pink as a feminine color (with blue its masculine counterpart), a conception perhaps magnified in this case by the sometime popularity of pink blouses among women in the service industry.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɪŋk ˈkɒlə/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪŋk ˌkɑlɚ/, /ˌkɒ-/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pink-col‧lar

Adjective

pink-collar (comparative more pink-collar, superlative most pink-collar)

1. Of or pertaining to employees in predominantly female service industries.
   • 1977, Glenn Siebert, Employment Service Potential: Indicators of Labor Market Activity, Sacramento, Calif.: Employment Research Section, California Employment Development Department, →OCLC, page 115:

     Black men have tended to congregate in laborers' jobs and certain service occupations, young workers in trade and such service enterprises as gas stations (to a lesser extent also in laborers' jobs), and women in the so-called "pink collar" occupations in trade, the services, and clerical work in all industrial sectors.

   • 1992, Emrika Padus, The Complete Guide to Your Emotions and Your Health: Hundreds of Proven Techniques to Harmonize Mind & Body for Happy, Healthy Living, Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, →ISBN, page 210:

     Good examples of employees under hidden stress are the nation's pink-collar workers. This group includes secretaries, clerks, data processors, telephone operators, and others.

   • 2003, Peggy Fielding, Confessing for Money, Denton, Tx.: AWOC.COM, →ISBN, page 7:

     These days, girls and women of all ages are still reading them, particularly the blue collar or pink collar workers or wives of blue collar workers.

Related terms

• white-collar
• blue-collar

Translations

pertaining to employees in predominantly female service industries

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 粉領 / 粉领 (fěnlǐng)

• Finnish: naisvaltainen (fi)
• Georgian: ვარდისფერსაყელოიანი (vardispersaq̇eloiani)

Further reading

• Pink-collar worker on Wikipedia.Wikipedia