A Minefield of Pink and Blue
How the unnecessary gendering of products is promoting harmful gender stereotypes
Shaving razors, children’s toys, headphones, soaps and snack foods.
Technically, these products should not have anything in common, yet in a world dominated by gender stereotypes, each of these items are often subject to unnecessary gendering. Namrata Sandhu from the FIIB Business Review claims:
“Marketers attribute gender to products with the motive of enhancing their consumer appeal. For this reason, perhaps, there exists more gendered products than gender neutral products.”
Due to intensive marketing shifts, many companies have exploited the “his and hers” selling point, forming a ruthless stampede to categorise everything and anything according to gender. The result: hilarious, yet concerning.
His and hers laxatives? Note that the “for women” package contains 10 less tablets.
They. Are. The. Exact. Same.
Funny as they are, many of these products promote unhealthy (and simply untrue) gender stereotypes. Many gendered products portray women as weak, petite and in need of special, gentle products that fit their needs. Many products designed or altered to be “for women” are not only identical to their “male” counterparts (aside from being pink, of course), but are subject to a higher price tag. In a 2018 study, researcher Karen Duffin found that in many cases, products targeted towards women cost as much as 13% more than the exact same products targeted towards men. This unfair and unnecessary pricing strategy is extremely common and known worldwide as “the pink tax”. Needless to say, this backwards approach to selling to women does not empower those who identify as female or promote gender equality in any way, shape or form. The images truly speak for themselves:
However, it’s not just women who are feeling the sting of unnecessarily gendered products. Products labelled as “for men” often promote toxic masculinity and put far too much pressure on the idea of what a man should be. Often, these products will promote a hyper masculine stereotype in which men are expected to be tough, outdoorsy, non-emotional and strong. This adds to a scary narrative that rejects any “feminine” traits within men (even things such as compassion and willingness to talk about emotion), regardless of their benefits to the men in question.
Perhaps the worst part about increasingly gendered items is that their power extends as far as children’s books, toys and clothes. The debate surrounding the gendering of children’s toys has existed for years, with parents becoming increasingly concerned about raising their children in a culture that encourages gender stereotyping through items that are supposed to represent fun and creativity. The Let Toys Be Toys initiative was formed in 2012 by a group of parents frustrated with the gender norms being forced upon their children through mainstream marketing and toy retailers. So far, the team at Let Toys Be Toys have persuaded fifteen major retailers to make positive changes against restrictive gender stereotypes by removing “for boys” and “for girls” toy aisles and pledging to make their toy ranges more inclusive.
There’s no denying that the gendering of everyday products adds to a large range of harmful gender stereotypes and societal expectations. What could seem like a harmless attempt to accommodate a product towards a female audience could subtly be reinforcing sexist ideals or contributing to the awful pink tax. So, my advice: avoid companies that utilise gender as a marketing tool (particularly for products that have no reason to be gendered at all). Better yet, if you wish to become especially involved in the movement against gendering products, get in contact with the companies that you believe promote negative gender stereotypes through their products and ask them: why?
