Will Pink Attire Make Women More Likely To Hunt?

What gets women all gung ho about big-game hunting in the wilderness? Pink clothing, apparently. A group of Wisconsin-based lawmakers named the sportsmen's caucus, wants to legalize bright pink as a color allowed to be worn by local hunters. The bipartisan group hopes the rosy hue will encourage women to get more involved in the sport, because all women identify with the color pink, right? Wait...

According to the Wisconsin Gazette , women made up roughly 10 percent of the state's gun deer hunters between the years of 2012 and 2014, and purchased 35 percent of new gun deer licenses last year. Additionally, women make up 11 percent of all 13.7 million hunting enthusiasts nationwide, according to Census Bureau statistics. Clearly, some women have a knack for deer hunting, but it's a little off-putting to think the rest of us females are only avoiding it because we don't like the neon orange color of the vest. While I do appreciate the notion of making hunting more inclusive and attempting to appeal to women, it's a little sexist to assume the color pink automatically equals femininity — not to mention that all women care deeply enough about what they're wearing to let it affect whether or not they'd participate in an activity. Unfortunately, this reinforces societal gender "norms" rather than breaking apart from them.

State Sen. Janet Bewley, one of nine female legislators in the group, believes the bill is a great idea, saying, "Anything that gets people more excited about getting out in the woods and enjoying hunting is a good thing," Huffington Post reports. However, It doesn't look like legalizing pink isn going to happen anytime soon. Jeff Schinkten, president of deer-hunting nonprofit group Whitetails Unlimited doesn't think pink will be visible enough saying, “I like the idea that we’re catering to the women to get them into the sport ... but I’m more about safety than fashion.” Wisconsic Gazette reports. Looks like they're going to have to find another way to appeal to women. Perhaps by granting more freedom to choose what they can and cannot wear?

Image: The North Face; Giphy.com