In the Ozblogosphere, we have a purple blog, a Yellow Vinyl Dress, and of course a red domain.
In the US, they have red states (Republican) and blue states (Democratic), and we’re constantly told, ne’er the twain shall meet.
A pseudonymous guest blogger (not it should be noted - one of the other guest bloggers -Dr Nick from the Simpsons) analyses the lacklustre performance of the Demos in coloured terms at Bitch, Ph.D.:
Ever since the red-blue meme took hold across the land, I’ve been sad that Republicans appropriated the good color. I mean, you have to admit that red is hotter than blue. No one ever talks about blue fuck-me pumps. But now this!
“Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning,” Dr. Russell Hill and Dr. Robert Barton, researchers in evolutionary anthropology at the University of Durham, wrote in a paper that appears today in the journal Nature.
The research began a year ago with a hunch based on observations in the animal kingdom, where red coloration is often associated with male dominance, Dr. Barton said in an interview. Zebra finches fitted with red leg bands tend to become dominant, while those given blue bands are more submissive.
(Emphasis mine). So, apparently it’s not just that the more aggressive players choose red instead of blue, but that when these colors are externally applied, it changes behavior! Could it be that they not only got the cooler color, but also that their color is helping them win elections? Or helping to provide them with the balls to make up intelligence to justify a war, nominate Bolton to the UN, renominate 7 previously rejected judges, and change the rules of the Senate on a whim? Could it be that the fact that Dems got stuck with blue is partially responsible for what shrinking violets they have been for the past 5 years?
I can now reveal this is all a plot! It would seem that until 2004, there was a convention designating the blue states as those held by the incumbent’s party. But so powerful was the blue state vs. red state theme (largely stoked by Republicans) that in 2004 the Demos ended up in the blue corner again, despite their challenger status. Originally the tv networks’ alternation of the national colours of blue and red was intended “to prevent bias or the perception of bias”. But those cunning Republicans have confected a culture war to nab the fuck-me sexy winning colour in the colour wars!
Fortunately, in Australia, red is still the colour of the left.
NB: I’m not commenting on how or if this can be related to Qld and NSW rugby teams.
PS: Labour’s biggest success in the UK came when Tony Blair changed their colour to purple. Draw your own conclusions. “For those who have eyes to see, let them see”…
Purple was the colour of royalty and of the Roman Senate and Princeps - in the ancient world it was the most expensive dye.
The purple dye used by the ancients was made from the secretions of sea snails as I recall.
Red’s an interesting colour. The word red in Russian, “krasny”, is cognate with the word beautiful (”krasivy”), hence “Krasnaya Ploshchad’”, or “Red [beautiful] Square”. Red was the colour of beauty for the slavs.
In China, it’s the colour of good luck, and a recurring theme/image in many of Zhang Yimou’s movies (notably “Red Sorghum”, “Judou” and “Raise the Red Lantern”). For the Chinese, yellow was the traditional imperial colour.
I’ve often wondered whether the symbolism of the colour red had an effect on the success of socialism in Russia and China.
Lib Dems are yellow - which of course in China was the colour reserved to the Emperor…
ps - good to see you linking to a few Bitch, Ph.D. posts, Mark - excellent blog, as is Alas, a Blog - where there is a blogger called “Kim (Bargain Basement Variety}”. A lot of good feminist (frequently) collaborative blogs in the States - are there any in Oz I should be reading?