What does "pinkwashing" mean?
The practice of a state or company presenting itself as gay-friendly and progressive to downplay its negative behavior.
Pinkwashing
noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The practice of a state or company presenting itself as gay-friendly and progressive to downplay its negative behavior.
- Grammar: pinkwashing is listed as noun, verb.
- Usage evidence: Several protesters, many of whom said they were Jewish, invoked what they called pinkwashing, Israel's alleged touting of its progressive stance on gay rights as a way of deflecting global attention away from its treatment of Palestinians.
How to use "pinkwashing"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pinkwashing" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The practice of a state or company presenting itself as gay-friendly and progressive to downplay its negative behavior. uncountable
"Several protesters, many of whom said they were Jewish, invoked what they called pinkwashing, Israel's alleged touting of its progressive stance on gay rights as a way of deflecting global attention away from its treatment of Palestinians."
- 2 The practice of a company using support of breast cancer-related charities to promote itself and its products or services. uncountable
"One such pinkwashing campaign was KFC's "Buckets for the Cure," an attempt by the fried chicken franchise to raise breast cancer awareness in partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure."
- 3 The practice of making a toy pink to signal that the manufacturer is marketing it toward girls. uncountable
"Today, the pink-washed versions of toys that had been marketed solely to boys for decades are touted as a shift toward gender-neutrality."
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of pinkwash form-of, gerund, participle, present
Example
"Several protesters, many of whom said they were Jewish, invoked what they called pinkwashing, Israel's alleged touting of its progressive stance on gay rights as a way of deflecting global attention away from its treatment of Palestinians."
Common questions
How do you use "pinkwashing" in a sentence?
Several protesters, many of whom said they were Jewish, invoked what they called pinkwashing, Israel's alleged touting of its progressive stance on gay rights as a way of deflecting global attention away from its treatment of Palestinians.
Etymology
From pink + -wash + -ing. The LGBT-related sense derives from the fact that the colour pink is often associated with homosexuality and LGBT culture. The breast cancer-related sense refers to the pink ribbon, an international symbol of breast cancer awareness.