A woman has sparked a viral debate with her perspective on the color pink.
Kirsten Fradsham (@kirstte.nn), 28, called on social media users to explain why red becomes pink instead of light red. Her take has garnered 300,700 likes and 3.6 million views on TikTok.
“It’s been interesting to read the comments and see the differing perspectives from everyone. I never dreamed that my random thought would gain so much traction,” Fradsham told Newsweek.
However, some TikTok users insist that light red does exist.
Kirsten Fradsham is seen in her TikTok video. The 28-year-old’s theory on the colour pink has triggered a viral response.
Kirsten Fradsham is seen in her TikTok video. The 28-year-old’s theory on the colour pink has triggered a viral response.
@kirstte.nn/@kirstte.nn
Julia Barzizza, an artist practitioner trained in color theory, offered her professional perspective to Newsweek.
“The woman’s take is a spot-on observation when it comes to mixing physical paints (like oils and acrylics), or color-picking in digital tools (e.g. shifting the light/dark bar in a digital color picker).
“Even with watercolors, less pigment is applied to the page to make a less saturated color,” Barzizza added.
Barzizza also noted that visual artists consider color on both a light and dark spectrum as well as temperature, and that historical and cultural factors influence color naming.
She highlighted how pre-industrial pigments varied by region.
Barzizza explained: “For Guatamaltecos in a pre-industrial era, the pink dye was commonly created using beet root extract. The resulting color has a cool quality. On a color wheel, it sits closer to a purple than a carmine red (once made from beetles). The opposite effect can be said of turquoise, which runs slightly warmer (closer to yellow) than a rich cobalt blue.
“So why is pink not light red? For this, I would put on my sociology hat and remind that pre-industrial pigments were created using the resources available to a unique region. How one region makes red might use completely different resources from another; yet both will call the color ‘red,’ (in the appropriate tongue). Further, based on the rarity of the resources to make the color red, the use of the color will have a distinct symbolic meaning.”
On social media, critics of Fradsham’s theory that pink is synonymous with light red provided alternative reasons for why her take was flawed. Some pointed to linguistic insights to explain the evolution of color names.
“Girl… light red/pastel red exists. Red does not turn to pink. Pink is Pink. Red is Red. Hope I’ve helped,” commented Leticia.
“It’s strictly linguistics. In Russian, dark blue and light blue are different colors with different names,” another user noted.
Others highlighted the diversity of color terminology across languages and cultures.
“Light purple – lilac, lavender. Light green – sage, mint. Light yellow – daffodil, lemon, sunshine. Light orange – peach. Light blue – cyan, turquoise. It could be light red or it could be pink,” said Nomi.
“Technically pink IS light red, BUT based on our language and culture/society we see pink as its own. i believe theres other languages and cultures that do this with blues and greens as well,” said another TikTok user.
“This is actually language specific. In Ukrainian, for example, blue and light blue are two different words,” added another commenter.
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Woman’s theory on the color pink sparks viral debate
