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What do you look for when you’re choosing a product? Let’s say the product is something essential but banal, for example, a toothbrush. Do you want it to work how it’s supposed to and be comfortable to use? Obviously. Do you want it to be a color you like? Sure. Admittedly not relevant to how it works, but you do see it several times a day, after all. Do you want it to make you feel like a real man or a woman?

Probably not what most of us think of while we’re brushing our teeth every morning, but apparently, advertisers say yes. Here are some products that we don’t think anyone asked for gendered versions of, as found by people on Twitter.

#1

Unnecessarily-Gendered-Products-Thread

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Kaisu
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you want to make pink binoculars for people who like pink, that's fine! But gendering binoculars is so unnecessary and stupid

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#2

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Sonja
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

well, the women's one is usually narrower, but has more space in the...breast area. at least the mine one has.

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Nobody is saying that selling things in a variety of designs is bad—people have different likes and dislikes and we would be bored if everything only came in brown. But is it any wonder why so many girls end up resenting pink and floral patterns when that’s the one look that advertisements and toy packaging tell them they should be choosing, while boys are encouraged to play with toys in red, green, black, and pretty much every other color?

For adults, who have had their whole lives to get to know their own preferences, it seems shallow and infantilizing. And when design comes at the expense of functionality, like pink glue or more fragile razors, it goes from uncomfortable to insulting.

#4

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Miłka Chromińska
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Finally a product for me, I've had enough of using men's shampoo, apricots have delicate hair you know. We need specially formulated shampoos :D

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#5

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Sonja
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

well, sometimes it is better to sort is this way. it is because of herbs inside. better than call it "tea-against-menstruation-pain", or "tea-for-those-who-has-prostate-gland-troubles". this is a better version, i think

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#6

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Falcon
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder if it's a play on words. Hand and Man. Still makes little sense tho unless it actually explodes...

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Then there’s the opposite phenomenon, when marketers think things should be designated “for men” because apparently it’s not manly in the first place to use soap, eat bread, or have a cup of tea (chili in tea... I didn't know there was something effeminate about drinking things that taste good and don’t hurt.)

#7

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Ed Souza
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can only imagine the outrage if they made this for women... still funny, I would buy this one as a gag gift.

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To be fair, some products are gendered because of average shape and size measurements or nutritional requirements based on sex. Even in those cases, though, what do we get out of labeling them “for men” or “for women” before said sizing or nutritional benefits? That just confuses and embarrasses people whose needs fall outside of those averages, because our proportions and chemistry vary a lot even within the biological categories of male and female. Further polarizing products by putting nuts and bolts or flowers and glitter on the package adds another uncomfortable layer by conflating our personalities and likes with those physical parameters.

#10

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I’m Foxxy and I know it 😉
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4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one doesn’t specifically say any gender. There is nothing wrong with having a choice of pink plane or blue plane. Some people (whether girl or boy like pink and others like blue).

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#12

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Ana B.
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just an unrelated reminder that when they say "flushable", that doesn't mean you should flush them. You CAN, but it's not considered a good idea.

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CrunChewy McSandybutt
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fun fact: those wipes actually don't disintegrate, and they tend to cause havoc in the sewage system further down the line.

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B. A.
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Guy's have some unusual chemistry actively working in their crotches and floral perfumes do not work out well in a sweaty male crotch. Getting a guy to use a wipe is like getting a kid to eat vegetables so since this product works ( the stores in my area are always restocking these ) then I would call this a necessarily hyped gender product and one I proudly admit to using to spare my wife the horrors of my boxers after a long day or work in the service to the public safety that I perform.

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Russian Otaku
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Flushable is total b******t and they don't exist. This r******d s**t only further damages infrastructure with other stupid s**t people flush away

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The Girl on Fire
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember seeing this on Shark Tank. It seems like it's doing really well for some reason

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Just saying
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Again, a larger sub set of men than women have issues with seeing the need for personal hygiene, so if this helps....

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louis porter
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You don't know what the dude is going to wipe up with those...

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Archer Harris
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMG!!!! My mom and I went into Walmart and the vendor thing was screaming “Dude Wipes.” She said that she was going to buy me a pack 🤦

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Dawn Ours
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

LOLOLOLOLOL seriously giggle can't say it without laughing

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Neal Evans
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My guess is that being an American product it has to fit the stereotype that all their men are rugged and manly and couldn't possible use a product that was slightly feminine looking with flowers or such

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Non-New-Toni-An
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree with most how ridiculous this is, but I can understand why they do this, back in the day most men didn't buy all the toiletries they do now, and the masculine packaging encourages men to actually buy the products.

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Magpie
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These are NOT flushable, and make a huge mess in the pipes.

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Jessica
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Could be made for the balls but if it's just a but wipe than that's absolutely ridiculous

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Full Name
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's made for your nuts, or at least that's what they're advertised as.

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Jace
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Assembled in USA”??? ASSEMBLED? So desperate to have a USA logo on it to appeal to the “DUDES” (nationalist “manly” men).

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Dutch Vee
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To encourage males to wipe... not a bad call out. Improved hygiene, we all win!

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Tanja J
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

being fragrance free, hypoallergenic, paraben free and flushable obviously makes them for dudes

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The American Marketing Association has observed that younger consumers are beginning to scoff at advertising that leans on gender, and recommends that brands focus on advertising “what a product is for rather than whom it is for.”

They say that brands could learn more about their consumer base’s habits and do better business by removing gendered marketing that could sway consumers away from products not traditionally associated with their gender, and embracing marketing that presents their products in a positive light for any consumer.

#13

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sunshine_20
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4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honestly, this isn't gendered, this is just two different types of products, with different characters/design.

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#15

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Terd Fergison
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4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The bible is one of the most misogynistic books on the planet. It states that a women who has a female child is twice as unclean as a woman that has a male child. It says that if a woman is raped and they are found, the rapist must pay the father some shekels and they must be married. I don't know many women that want to marry their rapist. Just a sickening, disgusting anti-woman book. Evil garbage filth.

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#16

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Johane Moller
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn't really gendered it's colored. Only if you assign blue to boys and pink to girls can you say it's really gendered. As it doesn't say 'for boys' or 'for girls' on the packaging. I would've probably liked this as a child.

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#18

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Kaisu
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now this kind of gendering of products is problematic. Just making a blue and pink product isn't gendering, but this is just really icky and not the way boys and girls should be taught to think about themselves.

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#24

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Avital Pilpel
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, let's just say it's probably because "I went through a whole box of tissues during that movie" means something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT for men and women.

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#25

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I’m Foxxy and I know it 😉
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cards against humanity brought out the “for her” set as a jab at the “pink tax”. Maybe have a read up on it.

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#26

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Kaisu
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Again, I don't really think this is gendered...? Some kids like to play with the rockets and planes while others like to play with the astronauts. I think it's really cool that there's a female astronaut doll and nowhere does it say that it's for girls or that the other one is for boys

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#30

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Dirk Daring
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every person who has never found their name printed on a souvenir is really ticked at Eetu right now.

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Note: this post originally had 46 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.