Since the meaning we assign to colors drifts over time based on usage (recall that boys originally were swathed in pink, while girls were clothed in blue), there's no particular reason to fight for the current association of pink with femininity. If it becomes associated with sex offenders, we'll find some other color for femininity. It seems silly to try to stick with a particular color association, just because it's what you grew up with.

Not like I am a huge fan of convicted sex offenders, but it continually amazes me how we single them out above all other criminals.

Wouldn't you say that a neighbor who has a history of alcohol abuse and a couple of drunk driving convictions is more dangerous to you (and your children playing in the street) than a child molester? Why doesn't that drunk driver have to have a special license plate?

Nothing like humiliating people who already have power issues, especially by tapping into the belief that women are weak and inferior and femininity is shameful, to really deal with the problem of sexual crimes.

May be even worse then you realize. I had a friend who worked in the prison system and he always had all the pink lighters he wanted because the prisoners wouldn't use pink ones.

Konky:

Drivers in Ohio who are convicted of driving drunk do have to have special license plates. They're this garish red color.

I agree with BitchPhD. They've already served their sentences, they don't need to be hung out in public and shamed, too.

How many little girls LOVE the color pink? I know I did. I can't imagine having a special license plate will keep anyone from committing a sex crime, and if said person is a pedophile who likes little girls, the pink license plate could actually help them. How can you convince a child who loves pink that a pink license plate is a BAD thing?

Who cares what color they use? I'm for any means available to alert people to the presence of pedophiles. I say put a big tatoo on their foreheads! (OK, maybe not a tatoo, but you get my drift.)

Mark 'em for life? Why not just give them a life sentence in jail if we're going to say that sex offenders will never change their ways? I agree that certain types of offenders need extra watching over once they get out of jail, but I hardly think that a life-time of public humiliation and misery fosters rehabilitation and productive participation in society.

BitchPHD - would you really prefer to leave your child in the care of a convicted sex offender or a convicted drunk driver? Obvioulsy you're being provocative, sex offenders are the worse scourge of our society - they trick children into sex - or, perhaps, they use force on those weaker, for sex - often the victimes never quite recover. While drunk drivers are dangerous inside their cars, while outside they are usually human - not something you can easily say about sex offenders. The real issue here is why the color pink? It's true, men won't wear pink uless they're forced to or maybe if they're gay, but in general, it's considered shaming. It's like Salon women either won't get it or don't want to: the worse thing you can do to a man is take his masculinity. You may not like it, you may think it unfair, but, as seen in the recent back lash against metrosexuality, women, as well, don't like men lacking masculinity - there's something grotesque about it. One of the reasons that feminism has taken such a hit that even most WOMEN won't identify themselves as such is because it's now associated with menbashing and queer rights. A recent piece in The Nation equates womens' so-called newly found sense of independence with their experimentation with lesbianism - as if eating your girlfriend's pussy is somehow a boon to women's rights. We're still human animals, ladies, and as long as a man being a man is wrong on the very face of it, you will feel marginalized and ridiculed. Even if I was gay, you'd never catch me in pink - nor my boyfriend - that's for the chicks!

"Why not just give them a life sentence in jail"

That would be OK with me too. Oh, wait, people with a life sentence often end up going free anyway since the prisons are too full of drug users.

I'm reminded of an episode of The District where the Lt's neighbor was being harassed by the rest of the people in their building because he was identified as a sex offender. The guy had been a teacher and one of his students had lied and said he had molested her. Despite being cleared of all charges his name still made it to one of those parent watch dog websites. The guy's life was made a nightmare because of one stupid pissed off student. I know that's not exactly the same as this situation but in a way it is.

What about the guys who were labeled as sex offenders because when they were 20 they made the stupid mistake of dating a 15-year old? Or how about that gay kid in Kansas or where ever who is in prison because of a love affair he had as an 18-year old with a 15-year old? He'll be marked as a sex offender for the rest of his life and stupid ideas like this will have people like him subjected to harassment they really don't deserve.

Sex offenders are the witches of the 21st century, good luck to those who are falsely accused.

I don't think men who have consensual sex with girls only a couple of years younger should be marked.

While you're worrying about protecting the rights of pedophiles, keep in mind that given the chance, they will reoffend. Think about the victims: http://www2.oprah.com/presents/2005/predator/profiles/profiles_victims.jhtml

Oprah has stories of all these children who were attacked by KNOWN sex offenders.

"I don't think men who have consensual sex with girls only a couple of years younger should be marked."

That's great! The law does though, your opinion on the matter is moot until it's held to a vote.

As for defending the rights of pedophiles, I'm not defending their rights, I'm defending the rights of the people falsely labeled who suffer because the mob, read mass amounts of stupid people, doesn't distinguish between it's targets. Making the guilty suffer at the cost of the innocent is wrong, period.