Wednesday Wisdom: The Essence of Pink Purses – An Economic Message
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women, Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Females
The original meaning of the word “purse” was a small bag for holding money. In Britain, this definition of purse still stands and the term for a larger bag that holds more items is referred to as a handbag. Purses weren’t always convenient fashionable bags worn by women. In fact, the first purses in history were more utilitarian and worn by men. The usage of a purse continued this way for a long time before women started using them.
The US presidential inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 when Eisenhower’s wife Mamie wore a pink dress as her inaugural gown is thought to have been a key turning point to the association of pink as a color associated with girls. Mamie’s strong liking of pink led to the public association with pink being a color that “ladylike women wear.”
Pink has continued as a color associated with girls and women as evident at baby showers, playgrounds, and magazines. Many women have told me they don’t wear pink because it seems ‘too girly or feminine.’ I have boldly embraced wearing pink to represent women. I believe there is a power to pink that gets missed by women today who only envision it for babies and young girls.
One of the things I collect are pink purses – not necessarily to wear when I’m shopping in public – but displayed as statues, ornaments, sentiments, and reminders of my greater purpose on earth – to help women put more money in the purses of other women first and foremost and to help with pay inequality. By highlighting the image of a pink purse, I hope women see the power their buying decisions make for other women today. We have choices every single minute where to spend our precious ‘pink’ money earned leading our companies. Do we stop before we spend contemplating how the power of our buying decisions make a ripple effect in our local and great communities? Or do we spend and hire without understanding we have the power to make a difference in another woman’s life?
On this significant 3rd day of March during Women’s History Month, when Women TIES was created 16 years to the moment you are reading this Wednesday Wisdom editorial, I remain committed to strongly encouraging women to spend their money with other women as often as they can by putting their money in another woman’s hands, bank account, or pink purse. We have a duty during this month, of all months, to do something to make pay inequality less stark by deciding for 31 days to hire another woman, buy a commercial product from a woman entrepreneur instead of a national store, purchase a service provided by a female business owner, and go out of your way to share our message of supporting women financially. Will you do it? Will you join me in this pink pledge? 
I call living this ‘pink purse’ mission my dream and our organization’s purpose. With you help, we can continue to make a difference in 2021 like our foremothers did to make some big and small positive pink impacts in our world.
Women TIES 