Are women color blind, too?
 

Yesterday I was driving my husband to work and I mentioned I loved the color of a pickup that went by and he said he didn't like green. It was blue. I said "it was blue" and he asked me if I was sure. Yes, I was sure. So, I know that some men can't tell blue from green, so I did a test on him on blue colored cars and trucks and any blue car that wasn't bright blue he thought was green. Are there women that are color blind or is it only men? I've only read about men. Now I know why when I've asked him to come in my sewing room and help me decide which colors to use for a quilt, he says that they all look good to him. It's because he can't really tell the difference. Poor guy. It must be horrible not to be able to tell the difference in colors. I know he knows red and yellow. It's the blue and green that he can't tell apart. I just have never heard of any women having this disability.

Hi Jeanne,

my dad is red/green colorblind. The defect is carried on the X-chromosome so it's much more likely to occur in men, as they only have one. Women whose fathers are colorblind, like me, are therefore carriers (defect on one X-chromosome and one X-chromosome with the gene for normal color vision from my mom who isn't a carrier). If my mom had been a carrier, I would have had a 50% chance of being colorblind. Or put another way, if I were to have children with a colorblind man, there is a 50% chance that my daughters would be colorblind. All our sons would be colorblind. It's much much rarer though in women for this reason

Has your husband been tested for color blindness?

Our grandson, the one in my avatar, is colorblind. It was discovered this past summer when he had his eyes checked for Kindergarten...He's had 2 yrs of preschool and seems to fake it well or knows how to compensate fairly well. There were times when we questioned his answers about color, but somehow he'd change his mind and get it right. He is red/green colorblind. My dad was colorblind and this is my daughter's child.

I once knew a man who could only see in black, white & gray. One of my uncles was color blind. I think it was the blue/geen, also. My sons and none of my brothers are color blind.

YEARS ago, I had an ongoing "argument" with both of my sons. They said a coffee mug we had was blue, I said it looked purple. We never resoled it and still talk about it today with laughter.
I really do think that there are certain colors where, male or female, it's hard to tell which color it is.

My DH is color blind...blue/green/red/green/yellow/orange/purple...he struggles with them all. When we went our first date, he told me if he asked what color a blinking light was to just tell him, not to ask why. He will pull over for a blinking light on a vehicle behind him and then find out it was a tow truck. For the past 33 years I have automatically told him what color blinking lights are on vehicles or traffic lights. He didn't want red rose bushes in our yard because he can't tell the flowers from the leaves, but can see the contrast of yellow roses. When we see a beautiful sunset, he asks me what colors it is. He's not any help picking out colors for anything, but on the other hand I usually get what I like best!

We do think our 3-yr-old grandson may be colorblind, will probably have him tested in a year or so.

I've known at least two women who are color blind. One is a quilter. Now THAT must be difficult. Sometimes her quilts are, well, interesting.

Yes women can be color blind. However for some reason many more men are color blind than women.

Kat

My DH & I couldn't agree on what a color was if our lives depended on it! It's pretty funny!

I am fascinated by this subject. My DH of eight years is red/green color blind. There is informative info on the internet which has helped me learn how he sees color. My DH helps me pick out fabric. A lot depends on how light reacts with the color. He often tells me certain things are a pretty blue... I usually let him know it is hot pink. I know that blue is part of the make-up of hot pink which is what he picks up on. He sees beautiful sunsets but in different colors than I do... usually he sees all the yellows/golds. I don't know any females that are color blind. Most literature I have read says it mostly runs in men.

Just this last month we picked out a green color for the exterior of our home. We started out by testing a blue but the way the light shown on it, it looked drab to him. So, we went for this green. It looks great to him. I watched the colors dispensed into the paint cans. Even though there was some red and some yellow, mostly there was blue pigment and lots of white.