COURTESY BUFF MONSTER
The Buff Monster Blind Box Series. CLICK FOR LARGE

Think Pink!

» The making of Buff Monster

My boyfriend wears pink.

So what?

I like men who have the confidence to go against societal mores that dictate, at a most basic level, "pink is for girls and blue is for boys."

That sort of old-fashioned thinking should have disappeared with the onset of the liberated '60s, yet both men and women still gasp when they see him in that color.

"You're wearing pink!" they exclaim in a tone simultaneously shocked, accusatory, titillated and questioning.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Split Obsession co-owner Erica Apana in a Buff Monster limited-edition tank top ($27), holds one of the Buff Monster Blind Box Series 1 ($25). CLICK FOR LARGE

Such is the power of pink, an innocent, unbiased color nevertheless saddled with expectations and fears about gender roles and human sexuality.

The power of pink will become clear to those who step into Split Obsession Saturday night, when the Koko Marina Shopping Center boutique hosts an appearance by Buff Monster, a Hawaii-born, L.A.-based artist who will be presenting "The Buff Monster Wet Dream Show" through Sept. 8.

On being a guy who's not afraid of pink, Buff said, "I've never really identified with any kind of group that is super macho. At all. I never played sports. It's just not my deal. There's a lot of macho stuff in this culture that doesn't serve the culture very well.

"I'm not afraid of the super-girly color. To me, it represents something that's fun."

THE BUFF MONSTER

"The Wet Dream Show" continues through Sept. 8
» Reception: 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday
» Place: Split Obsession, Koko Marina Shopping Center, 7192 Kalanianaole Highway, D-100 (near Zippy's)
» Call: 395-3380

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Big Black Buff Monster Toy ($85) is pictured here. CLICK FOR LARGE