When a baby is born most count to see if he or she has all its fingers and toes. This is the first thing that a new parent attends to. We don’t worry whether the child will be able to see color properly. As the child grows up and begins to learn their alphabet, how to count and colors it is imprinted on them by memory. We take it for granted that the colors orange, green or blue we see is the same way the child perceives them. This isn’t necessarily true. Colorblindness, a trait that is inherited happens primarily in the male species. My biggest secret: I was born colorblind and I am female.
I lovingly refer to my problem as color dysfunctional because I do not see in black and white. Which plenty ask when they find out my secret. Next everyone wants to test me. Their little game of “what color is this and that” can go on forever sometimes. Everyone has a great laugh after each pop quiz. Then usually it segues to “Well how do you drive?” What do you mean I always ask? Well the stop lights they say. Uhhhh well when I went to get my driver’s license they never asked me if I was colorblind (dysfunctional). No, no, no that’s not what I mean is usually uttered. OHHHH, okay! So once more playing along I proudly announce: Red’s at the top, Yellow’s in the middle and Green’s at the bottom. If they turn the signal for height restraints, it gets turned to the left. But the colors still appear the same. *Sigh. OHHH yeah, huh, is usually what I hear! Believe me it gets old but because colorblindness is so rare in the feminine gender, hopefully I am educating the world in some small way.
I had no idea growing up that the colors I had learned didn’t appear to the rest of the world – the way I see them. Getting into an argument (which led to a fist fight) over the color of my fabric’s background in Home Economics gave way to discovery in 8th grade. The school Principal advised my biological father that I needed testing for verification, but that he [Principal] and the [Home EC] teacher already had their initial suspicions. Yep, the silly book that you trace patterns in at an Optometrist’s office verified I was colorblind (dysfunctional). Funny that Optometrist never mentioned how rare it was in girls back then.
In fact, I always assumed there were plenty of other women who had the same trouble as I did. Not so! In 45 years, I have only met one other woman who is color dysfunctional. It was sort of strange our meeting. At that time, I worked in an establishment that sold both books and stationary items as a floor clerk and department head. One afternoon at work I was approached by a nice lady who asked for help with the Liquid Paper. No problem. Until I discovered I had to help to match the proper color of Liquid Paper to the same color stationary. She quickly apologized, as I often do, for her handicap. I assured her I was in the same boat with her and we would need to get helpful assistance from someone else with the Liquid Paper match.
Learning of her dysfunction put me at ease for the first time ever in life. I believe the same was true for the customer as well. We both laughed over how everyone we encountered always wanted to give a color pop quiz as previously described. She admitted that I was also the first color dysfunctional woman she had ever met. We discussed how tough it can be as a woman to get through day to day life with as little disorder as possible. Amongst other things that propose discord.
For those of you that aren’t colorblind (dysfunctional) allow me to describe how it handicaps a woman:
1) Try picking out the right colors of makeup that look best with your skin tone and then proper blending so that you do not end up looking like a circus clown.
2) Try picking out your own clothes to match when shopping and dressing for the day without the help of anyone. They do not make Garanimals for adults. Although it might be a great idea.
3) Try helping your children who aren’t colorblind (dysfunctional) learn their colors and how to properly identify them. As they grow older your child begins helping you identify colors.
4) Try dressing your children in matching colors (until they can do so on their own) so that he or she doesn’t get beat up. Some folks can’t afford Garanimals brand clothing for kids.
5) Try finding a career to get into that doesn’t involve color-coding such as Graphic Artist, Aesthetician, Electrician, Health Care, Fashion or Interior Design, Military – just to name a few.
6) Try enjoying a sunrise, sunset or natural rainbow without the help of someone else describing the beautiful colors you are NOT seeing.
7) Try driving after dark. WAIT before you jump bad on me! Even in darkness color provides depth perception when driving. Couple that with night blindness which has been found (in studies) more prevalent in women than men – it makes it tougher to drive safely.
8) Try playing games that use color only as a means to win such as Twister. I have a favorite on Pogo.com; Poppit uses colored balloons. Thank goodness one can pass the cursor over the balloons and know that they are the same color.
These are just some of the obstacles I have faced since the 8th grade. It wasn’t until 1994 that I learned the root cause of my colorblindness (dysfunction). I was cleaning house at that time for a Cardiologist. The doctor and I had gotten to know one another pretty well and one day the discussion came up. He [doctor] had never heard of a woman being colorblind. He knew that it was very common in men. When he questioned me about the cause of my dysfunction, I had no answer for him. No one seemed to know how or why I was born colorblind (dysfunctional). Yes, my biological father was colorblind and so was my younger brother, but my other siblings aren’t colorblind. This confused the doctor even more, so he made it his mission to find out the root cause.
And find out he did. Apparently doing extensive research for the answer led him to discover that the trait comes from a gene carried by mothers only. Any mother that carries this gene will always produce colorblind boys. But when you couple a mother with the gene and a father that is colorblind it will make the girls dysfunctional also. As in my case. The reason for my older siblings not being colorblind especially my sisters is simple. They had a different father who wasn’t colorblind. Proof enough for me.
Although my younger brother and me are both colorblind (dysfunctional) we do not see colors the same way either. Strange but true. We are both red/green colorblind. I have problems with all reds and greens, he apparently doesn’t. He has told me he can see some reds just fine but has problems with all greens. So explain that one, I certainly can’t. Also another strange phenomenom would be that I see yellow and blue just fine. Why not green? We all know from the old commercials that yellow and blue make green. So what is wrong with my eyes?
I have adapted over the years to use memory with colors. I will file in my memory bank what I am told the color is versus how I perceive it. I use alternative methods when my memory isn’t enough such as labeling items their color. When I purchase clothing, normally I will wear the same tops and bottoms as outfits until getting rid of pieces. This way I know that I am always color-coordinated each time. I never leave home before checking with someone whether my complete outfit is matching including my shoes and if my makeup is blended and evenly smooth. When driving at night I try to stay on well lit roads so that my depth perception is the same as in daylight hours. When working with graphics, I will have someone look over my color choices before finishing a project so that I do not embarrass myself.
There are plenty enough ways in life to be embarrassed, color shouldn’t be one of them.
