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Color Phobia

 Now that we are showing up to the office more often than not, I find that chromophobia is back in force as well. The women around me are dressed exclusively in neutral colors and there is a complete absence of patterns of any kind. A floral printed top is unthinkable. I am that point of my life where I no longer care to blend in and become part of the scenery. It is not as relevant anymore. 

When I was younger, I cared about "looking the part" and that included washing off my accent a bit, slowing my speech until my speech pattern fit into the range of "acceptable" patterns. I am very much about wearing colorful clothes even if that makes me stand out. Some of what I wear are my personal favorites - they were not in fashion when I bought them and are not trending now. They are clothes that look right on me and that's all that matters. Almost always they have colors. It was mentally much harder for me to stick out when I was younger, now I don't care if I do. The reasons why color is such anathema in the west are interesting:

..in Europe, bright colors were seen as a sign of degeneracy and inferiority, and a love of bright color marked one as uncivilized, lacking taste, and "foreign." In England, contemporaries referred to Indian textiles as "rags" or "trash" and scorned their bright colors. As Goethe famously stated, "Men in a state of nature, uncivilized nations, and children have a great fondness for colors in their utmost brightness."

Prejudice against color masks a fear of contamination and corruption by something unknown or unknowable, according to Batchelor. This prejudice continued into the early 20th century. Frank Parsons claimed in 1912 that "Many Latin races, still somewhat primitive in taste, need [red] to meet their temperaments," while J.C.F. Grumbine, a color psychologist in 1921, stressed that "The primary colors of red, yellow, and blue appealed to the elemental and simple minds of the savage."

This belief was often supported by pseudoscientific claims that "savage" people needed stronger stimulation because they had duller senses, which was also used to justify slavery.

I am so glad that I have the simple mind of a savage that responds to the strong stimulation of colors. Gladder yet that I was blessed with the skin-tone that can wear a very wide range of colors comfortably. It would be a shame to waste what nature given me and millions of others like me and try to act classy by giving up color in our daily lives. We don't need to wait for Holi and Diwali to look right.

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