<P> The term `` pink - collar '' was popularized in the late 1970s by writer and social critic Louise Kapp Howe to denote women working as nurses , secretaries , and elementary school teachers . Its origins , however , go back to the early 1970s , to when the equal rights amendment , ERA , was placed before the states for ratification ( March 1972 ) . At that time , the term was used to denote secretarial and steno - pool staff as well as non-professional office staff , all of which were largely held by women . De rigueur , these positions were not white - collar jobs , but neither were they blue - collar manual labor . Hence , the creation of the term `` pink collar , '' which indicated it was not white - collar but was nonetheless an office job , one that was overwhelmingly filled by women . </P>
<P> The term `` pink - collar '' was popularized in the late 1970s by writer and social critic Louise Kapp Howe to denote women working as nurses , secretaries , and elementary school teachers . Its origins , however , go back to the early 1970s , to when the equal rights amendment , ERA , was placed before the states for ratification ( March 1972 ) . At that time , the term was used to denote secretarial and steno - pool staff as well as non-professional office staff , all of which were largely held by women . De rigueur , these positions were not white - collar jobs , but neither were they blue - collar manual labor . Hence , the creation of the term `` pink collar , '' which indicated it was not white - collar but was nonetheless an office job , one that was overwhelmingly filled by women . </P>
is nursing a blue collar or white collar job
is nursing a blue collar or white collar job
pink - collar
pink - collar