Katy Guest: Pink suits roses and babies, but women have moved on

I'd never accuse Radio 4 of failing to tackle controversial issues head on, but this week the formidable Jenni Murray missed a trick. Woman's Hour raised the subject: why are products for little girls always pink, and is it "just another way of grooming them for consumption"?

But more important questions weren't asked. Why do products for grown women have to be pink? Where are all the books, pyjamas or sports kit in other colours? Isn't it a little bit insulting to be expected to dress like a Disney princess when you're 32? And what if it clashes with your hair?

Last week, the best-selling novel was This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. It is aimed at women, so obviously its cover is pink. A new pink cricket ball was used for the first time at Lord's two weeks ago – but first it was trialled in a match for girlies. The pink iPod, launched on Valentine's Day for men with not much imagination, is selling up a storm. A Russian company has launched a brand of vodka aimed at capturing women's new disposable income. Hurray for this enlightened attitude towards binge drinking. Bad news it had to be pink.

At The Independent on Sunday we receive many overexcited press releases for products you never knew you needed, but some are sadder than others. A chain of hotels has launched a concept called "The Pink Room", we were told recently, "designed specifically to make female guests as comfortable as possible". This means that the mini-bar contains only "small cereal bars, delicious yoghurts and a cooling gel eye mask for relaxing", and that "hangars [sic] are provided for skirts and blouses".

So they cost the same as standard rooms, but with teeny muesli bites instead of gin. The only thing missing was the dread word "pampering", which implies that women are just as pleased by scented candles as a social life, and easily mistake low-fat yoghurt for getting laid.

It's about more than just a colour, this sugar-coated infantilising of women. Of course people can like whichever colour they choose. But increasingly, we don't have a choice.

Take a look in any sports shop at clothes or equipment in women's sizes. On Nike's website, I clicked to "find the right shoe". "Your anatomy and biomechanics are completely different," it told me. "You're lighter, have smaller bones and your joints and ligaments are more flexible." And because of that, all but one of my options for a "responsive" running shoe are pink.

On website onlinegolf.co.uk, its ladies' golf clubs are "ergonomically perfected to adapt to the subtle differences in physiognomy and stance". So what difference in women's physiognomy demands that we carry clubs that look like candy bars?

Try looking for pyjamas, or a wash bag, or a bottle of perfume. Bathrooms are blue. Baby pink is for babies. And seriously, nobody over the age of seven should be wearing a nightie that has little bunny rabbits on it.

Last autumn, two scientists at Newcastle University attempted to discover whether girls' preference for pink is biologically or culturally defined.

In a study of 208 people, both sexes preferred blue. Women like red tones slightly more than men, the researchers said, and this they put down to our evolutionary tendency to forage for ripe fruit and berries.

Well, guess what? We're not chimps any more. Nor are we children. So please will somebody sell me a blue drink to have in my blue PJs in a blue hotel room? Then I promise I'll be the perfect consumer.

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