Red: The Forbidden Color for Women
How a Color Became a Symbol of Love, Defiance, and Visibility
The color red , is not just a shade— it’s a symbol. On one hand, it represents love, while on the other hand, it stands for blood. Growing up in India, I noticed as a child…Red is Forbidden Color for widowed women.
I saw grandmothers following it like a strict rule, but they never asked why are they deprived from a color, only because their spouse was deceased.
As a child, I wondered why was this vibrant, powerful color off- limits for widowed women?
But, over time, I realized it wasn’t just about tradition— it was about something much deeper.
In our culture, red is the color of marriage. I mean literally!
Married women in India, wear red saris, red bangles, and apply vermillion in the parting of their hair.
To put it in easy words, it is like a way of saying, “I am a wife, and my husband is alive.”
As a kid, I thought it was just about that— a marker of being married.
But as I grew older, I started to see it differently.
It wasn’t just about being a wife, it was about visibility of women. Red is bold, striking, impossible to ignore.
And by denying widows the right to wear it, society was making them invisible.
Scientific Explanation Of Visibility Red Color
I remember learning in school that red light has the longest wavelength visible to the human eye.
I was probably in 9th standard it was taught to us why red is used in traffic signals and danger signs.
It is the most vibrant, the easiest to spot from a distance.
So intriguing right? This means, red isn’t just a color…it’s a signal, a call for attention.
So, when women are told they can’t wear red, it’s not just about taking away a color.
It is about silencing their presence, their voice, their power. Basically their whole existence.
However, this isn’t just something I’ve observed in India. The power of red stretches far beyond my culture.
Very recently I found out that during World War II, women started wearing red lipstick as a way to oppose Hitler’s beauty ideals!
Well…female visitors to his retreat were given a list of rules, which included avoiding red lipstick and nail polish. Hah! Can you imagine?
But women didn’t back down. Instead, they embraced red even more. American female marines in the 1940s even adopted red lipstick as part of their uniform.
The credit goes to Elizabeth Arden, who created a special shade for them.
In fact…back in 1912, Arden handed out free red lipsticks to suffragettes marching for women’s rights in New York City.
So…red, it seems, has always been a color of resistance.
Now, coming back to 2025, red lipstick still feels revolutionary to me.
I think, whether it’s the vermillion or
bold red lipstick, red color has always been tied to women’s identity.
Thanks for reading 🌻
You can also read : The Female Flame by HS Insider , based on similar topic
If you know of any such incident where colors played an important role in shaping societal norms, please share it in the comments.