English edit

 
Women working at a Wacoal lingerie factory in Thailand

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

pink +‎ collar. By analogy with various constructions ending in the word collar, especially blue-collar, and from the traditional conception of pink as a feminine color (with blue its masculine counterpart), a conception perhaps magnified in this case by the sometime popularity of pink blouses among women in the service industry.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

pink-collar (comparative more pink-collar, superlative most pink-collar)

  1. Of or pertaining to employees in predominantly female service industries.
    • 1977, Glenn Siebert, Employment Service Potential: Indicators of Labor Market Activity, Sacramento, Calif.: Employment Research Section, California Employment Development Department, →OCLC, page 115:
      Black men have tended to congregate in laborers' jobs and certain service occupations, young workers in trade and such service enterprises as gas stations (to a lesser extent also in laborers' jobs), and women in the so-called "pink collar" occupations in trade, the services, and clerical work in all industrial sectors.
    • 1992, Emrika Padus, The Complete Guide to Your Emotions and Your Health: Hundreds of Proven Techniques to Harmonize Mind & Body for Happy, Healthy Living, Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, →ISBN, page 210:
      Good examples of employees under hidden stress are the nation's pink-collar workers. This group includes secretaries, clerks, data processors, telephone operators, and others.
    • 2003, Peggy Fielding, Confessing for Money, Denton, Tx.: AWOC.COM, →ISBN, page 7:
      These days, girls and women of all ages are still reading them, particularly the blue collar or pink collar workers or wives of blue collar workers.

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Further reading edit