People Are Sharing Examples Of Pointless Gendering And It Shows How Stupid It Can Be (50 Pics)
Here's a radical thought. Maybe men and women would get along better if companies and institutions stopped yelling about how different they are? I get it, everyone has their own opinion, and it's a sensitive topic but come on. Toilet paper for women? A cookbook for men? Some things are just absurd. And you can find them on the subreddit r/PointlesslyGendered. This online community is dedicated to collecting examples of the division between the two genders our society so desperately insists on, and over the years have gotten themselves quite a load. Here are some of the worst ones.
This post may include affiliate links.
Dinosaurs Are For Boys
The correct response towards anyone meddling in what is none of their business.
Gender-tailored marketing messages are fairly common, but research shows they can have the opposite effect and repel consumers, especially women. In fact, they often backfire to the point of dissuading women from choosing a product they would have considered if the company hadn't talked about their gender so much, a study by Harvard Business School found.
The reason for this lies in human nature. People tend to resist being categorized (or made to feel like they are unwillingly reduced to a single identity) particularly when the product they're being nudged toward evokes a stereotype about their gender.
Damn You, Spaghetti Sauce. If Only I Had A Man Around! Dinner Is Ruined!
Suggesting that women will go crazy over a product wrapped in pink packaging just because some marketer assumes that all women love pink can come across as downright insulting, co-researcher Leslie K. John, the Marvin Bower Associate Professor at HBS, said.
"In a way, this project reminds me of my childhood," John explained. "When I was a kid, I had a babysitter who said, 'Leslie, your favorite color is pink.' She would put pink bows in my hair. Everything had to be pink. This project is partly a reaction against this feeling that just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I love pink! There's something very off-putting about feeling like you're being reduced to a single category of membership."
And It’s Only $49.99!
To be fair, a lot of women could buy one-for-all but don't and the variety for "male" body care grows.
Names Have A Gender?
To be fair, there are plenty of languages where names do have a gender.
What To Get My Niece For Christmas
If my aunt was here, she’d say ‘makeup’. I’m not even a girl, I was AFAB, she doesn’t know that though, and for t he past 3 Christmases and my birthdays, she’s only gave me makeup-
But where does this false notion come from? Why do companies keep trying to sell their products by emphasizing the buyer's gender? Well, the answer to this question might lie in one 2017 Pew Research Center survey.
It discovered that Americans think men and women are basically different in the way they express their feelings, their physical abilities, their personal interests, and their approach to parenting. But there is no public consensus on the origins of these differences.
Shaming Elephants
I think marketers know this. Maybe some of them just haven't realized that to have an opinion and to base your purchasing decision on it are two different things.
This applies to other aspects, not only gender. According to previous research, for example, even stereotypes that cast people in a positive light—such as Asians excel in math—can trigger a negative reaction from these groups.
Girls Don’t Have Ankles
ahhh i think thats worse than period pains *ow* and last time i checked... i have two ankles
Fellas, Is It Gay To Touch Your Face?
It's true, though. Holding your face together is the only thing preventing his XY-jaw from dragging along the floor, with his XY-knuckles. Plus, he has bonus nose-picking modality this way.
In Estonian "Ta" (Or "Tema") Means Both "She" And "He", Google Translate Decides By Context
Same Items Inside... Hers Costs 30% More
Apparently It’s Gay To See Now
Real men don't go out of their way for street signs, the street signs scarper out of the way.
Toothpaste For Men Only!
wtf i use that toothpaste and i use men's deodorent and its not to strong for my fragile feminine teeth or under arms this makes me so mad
Pointlessly Gendered Shelter Caused Trans Student To Be Left Outside
Bureaucracy at its finest.....lol. Also, what a stupid shooter plan. "Look, there's a shooter! Quick! separate by genders!"
Pockets?!
I used to wear mens slacks for this reason and too many people thought it was a strange thing for me (female) to do
Men Can't Be Anorexic Apparently
No Bro It’s War Paint
Kinda contradicts the "You're a man you don't need a mirror" of nearby post.
Fruity Drinks Are Bomb
“Things To Say When You’re Staring At A Boy Trying To Think Of What To Say”
Fathering A Child? Sounds Pretty Girly To Me
having a designer bag doesn't make you afraid of not being masculine. Why do you think there are diaper bags with flowers and cute baby animals? Because the demographic they are trying to sell the diaper bag to like it.
Because Somehow Exercise And Dieting Can Be Gender Specific?
Found This Gem On Tumblr
Fellas, Is It
Green Is Man, Red Is Woman
Unclear whether this is gendering or just keeping a theme edit: Just realized these are different white people on unrelated album?movie? covers.
This Sign On The Door To Our Laundry Room
Pink Bad For Rap
Note: this post originally had 114 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
To be fair, I took pink plasti-dip to the handles of a lot of my tools. Buts that's not because I need pink tools for my delicate lady hands, but so the guys in my shop won't borrow them.
Smart way to use their fragile masculinity to your advantage
Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with you @Meme Mee
Aren't we the open-minded one.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
You must be a f****t.
Guys at work kept messing up my spreadsheets. One would need the password for it for official purposes and suddenly everyone knew the password. So I started making the passwords ridiculously girly. No one has broke in since. None of them want to say the password outloud. Making this shtshow work for me.
This comment has been deleted.
I used to carry a pink lighter so nobody else would steal it. I use a pink calculatior at work for the same reason.
1. That's rude that they can't be bothered to just keep track of their own tools so they keep borrowing yours, which I don't know if you told them to stop but if you did and they didn't listen then that's very rude. 2. That's sad that the only way they wouldn't use your tools is if they were pink because they can't stand to use pink tools. Sorry if this is inaccurate but that's what I got from this, please correct me if I'm wrong
#2 is pretty accurate. I'm surrounded my "manly-men" (that said they've been really cool about having girl in the shop) As for #1, My tools get borrowed because my bay is the closest to the main doors. So stuff gets pushed in, but then they can't be arsed to push it the extra 50 feet to their bay and their tool boxes and they want to use mine so they don't have to walk. It happened to the guy who was their before me, also.
I hide my stuff in a tampon box in a drawer. Only woman in meat dept. No one touches it.
I used to do a similar thing with lighters. I decorated them with nail polish, glitter, & disney stickers. No dudes at the party wanted to be caught with the purple glittered Piglet lighter so it hardly ever got stolen. Worked with ladies too. When its that easily recognized, they dont seem to "forget" they had it as often
That's makes sense thank you Rae
Yes! It totally works! I used to smoke cigarettes and I would buy pink or flowery lighters so my ex boyfriend wouldn't steal them.
My dad one day in the 1970s: "Tennis is gay." .....My mom in reply: "So football is manly?"......My dad: "Hell yeah."...... My mom: "A sport where you're rubbing up against other men and sharing showers naked in a room together is manly."..... And that's when I think my dad's brain melted and he never made such comments again.
Your mom is awesome
Thank you. :-) She kicked a**.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
His mum is one in a millionth. How many brown-nose points did you rack up today?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Here's one: tell her she has man-hands. Awesome? You're a hypocrite.
Funggnuggins, since my mother managed to make my father confront his homophobia and bigotry, I think she did a great thing. I'm sorry that approval of her confronting him about it upset you.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Problem with people like you is you can't see how far this regressive delusional nonsense has gone, let alone how far it will go. You cheer it on - the undoing of society - without knowing -what- you are cheering on, let alone why. The modern common parlance is "simp".
Keep kicking it in her name! And one from me too ;-)
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
How original. Oh, and how in-line with the whole non-gendering bullshit narrative. People are so twisted.
This gender BS is so annoying. I've been dealing with it my whole life. All I wanted to do as a kid was run around outside, climb trees, catch bugs, play in the mud. But my older, female cousins would insist on dragging me into the bathroom to fix my hair, do my makeup and harass me about why I wasn't wearing a training bra. I've never liked pink. I very much wanted to join the boy scouts because they got to do all the fun stuff. I hated being forced to wear dresses and I loved unicorns because putting a horn on a horse just made it even more bad ass. Now I'm an adult and trying to raise boys and am having to deal with all the problems at the other end of the spectrum. I make a point of not even introducing any of that toxic masculinity crap, but my 7 year old watches cartoons and picks up snippets of it from that. Lately he's been trying to tell me boy's hearts aren't as big as girl's, and that boys are supposed to be meaner than girls. We had a nice long conversation about that one.
Yeah, I'm a girl and I don't like fixing my hair, doing makeup, or like pink either.
The whole pink thing kills me--for years they were marketing women's motorcycle clothing only in pink. Like come on, people! I ride a motorcycle do you think I'm the kind of woman who needs to wear pink all the time?
I came home one day and my parents were decorating my bedroom, from blue to pink. I hated it, and they certainly never asked me, it was a total surprise. Now, I do wear pink, if I feel like it, but I still have a lot of black in my wardrobe!
i hate everything you hate except pink ;-)
same
Same
Cori, you speak for me. My sis was la femme, and I was the tomboy. I was later questioned if I was "sure about my identity". Er.... yes. Wearing jeans and not doing my nails isn't a sign of anything but my liking to wear jeans and hating to do my nails. *sigh* GOOD LUCK raising your boys.
Dude, yes, my sister was a literal beauty queen, & model of course, and I was wearing baggy clothes to hide my curves (i see you Billie Eilish) and even in my 20’s I was asked if I was gay! No biggie if I were, but nope, just didn’t want my boobs to be the center of attention. I have a stepdaughter and I too see the influence getting to her about gender, but also we have conversations and try to reinforce the fact that everyone is different and that is ok! Unfortunately her mom is pretty ignorant and I’m only the step mom, so when she resists information that contradicts her mom, I back off. She has asked us why we’re not married (her mom says we need to get married and have our own baby...) and she accepted the notion that it’s not necessary and that her dad and I love each other and love to be each other’s friend she seemed pretty content with that answer. But sometimes “mamma said that all snakes are evil because they’re Satan’s animals” and it’s like what are y’all smoking?
My mother pushed pink on me. I remember wanting a pastel blue teddy bear and being told "No, blue is for boys, you must have the pink one." I've hated that shade of pink ever since.
when i was a young lady, i told myself i liked blue precisely because i dont want to be seen as a girly girl. now that i am menopausal i feel free to revert to my true pink-loving self :( society is f****d up
Yeah gender should disappear. It only does harm and has no function.
It's good that your sons have you.
It's a minefield with kids isn't it.
SAME!
To be fair, I took pink plasti-dip to the handles of a lot of my tools. Buts that's not because I need pink tools for my delicate lady hands, but so the guys in my shop won't borrow them.
Smart way to use their fragile masculinity to your advantage
Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with you @Meme Mee
Aren't we the open-minded one.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
You must be a f****t.
Guys at work kept messing up my spreadsheets. One would need the password for it for official purposes and suddenly everyone knew the password. So I started making the passwords ridiculously girly. No one has broke in since. None of them want to say the password outloud. Making this shtshow work for me.
This comment has been deleted.
I used to carry a pink lighter so nobody else would steal it. I use a pink calculatior at work for the same reason.
1. That's rude that they can't be bothered to just keep track of their own tools so they keep borrowing yours, which I don't know if you told them to stop but if you did and they didn't listen then that's very rude. 2. That's sad that the only way they wouldn't use your tools is if they were pink because they can't stand to use pink tools. Sorry if this is inaccurate but that's what I got from this, please correct me if I'm wrong
#2 is pretty accurate. I'm surrounded my "manly-men" (that said they've been really cool about having girl in the shop) As for #1, My tools get borrowed because my bay is the closest to the main doors. So stuff gets pushed in, but then they can't be arsed to push it the extra 50 feet to their bay and their tool boxes and they want to use mine so they don't have to walk. It happened to the guy who was their before me, also.
I hide my stuff in a tampon box in a drawer. Only woman in meat dept. No one touches it.
I used to do a similar thing with lighters. I decorated them with nail polish, glitter, & disney stickers. No dudes at the party wanted to be caught with the purple glittered Piglet lighter so it hardly ever got stolen. Worked with ladies too. When its that easily recognized, they dont seem to "forget" they had it as often
That's makes sense thank you Rae
Yes! It totally works! I used to smoke cigarettes and I would buy pink or flowery lighters so my ex boyfriend wouldn't steal them.
My dad one day in the 1970s: "Tennis is gay." .....My mom in reply: "So football is manly?"......My dad: "Hell yeah."...... My mom: "A sport where you're rubbing up against other men and sharing showers naked in a room together is manly."..... And that's when I think my dad's brain melted and he never made such comments again.
Your mom is awesome
Thank you. :-) She kicked a**.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
His mum is one in a millionth. How many brown-nose points did you rack up today?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Here's one: tell her she has man-hands. Awesome? You're a hypocrite.
Funggnuggins, since my mother managed to make my father confront his homophobia and bigotry, I think she did a great thing. I'm sorry that approval of her confronting him about it upset you.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Problem with people like you is you can't see how far this regressive delusional nonsense has gone, let alone how far it will go. You cheer it on - the undoing of society - without knowing -what- you are cheering on, let alone why. The modern common parlance is "simp".
Keep kicking it in her name! And one from me too ;-)
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
How original. Oh, and how in-line with the whole non-gendering bullshit narrative. People are so twisted.
This gender BS is so annoying. I've been dealing with it my whole life. All I wanted to do as a kid was run around outside, climb trees, catch bugs, play in the mud. But my older, female cousins would insist on dragging me into the bathroom to fix my hair, do my makeup and harass me about why I wasn't wearing a training bra. I've never liked pink. I very much wanted to join the boy scouts because they got to do all the fun stuff. I hated being forced to wear dresses and I loved unicorns because putting a horn on a horse just made it even more bad ass. Now I'm an adult and trying to raise boys and am having to deal with all the problems at the other end of the spectrum. I make a point of not even introducing any of that toxic masculinity crap, but my 7 year old watches cartoons and picks up snippets of it from that. Lately he's been trying to tell me boy's hearts aren't as big as girl's, and that boys are supposed to be meaner than girls. We had a nice long conversation about that one.
Yeah, I'm a girl and I don't like fixing my hair, doing makeup, or like pink either.
The whole pink thing kills me--for years they were marketing women's motorcycle clothing only in pink. Like come on, people! I ride a motorcycle do you think I'm the kind of woman who needs to wear pink all the time?
I came home one day and my parents were decorating my bedroom, from blue to pink. I hated it, and they certainly never asked me, it was a total surprise. Now, I do wear pink, if I feel like it, but I still have a lot of black in my wardrobe!
i hate everything you hate except pink ;-)
same
Same
Cori, you speak for me. My sis was la femme, and I was the tomboy. I was later questioned if I was "sure about my identity". Er.... yes. Wearing jeans and not doing my nails isn't a sign of anything but my liking to wear jeans and hating to do my nails. *sigh* GOOD LUCK raising your boys.
Dude, yes, my sister was a literal beauty queen, & model of course, and I was wearing baggy clothes to hide my curves (i see you Billie Eilish) and even in my 20’s I was asked if I was gay! No biggie if I were, but nope, just didn’t want my boobs to be the center of attention. I have a stepdaughter and I too see the influence getting to her about gender, but also we have conversations and try to reinforce the fact that everyone is different and that is ok! Unfortunately her mom is pretty ignorant and I’m only the step mom, so when she resists information that contradicts her mom, I back off. She has asked us why we’re not married (her mom says we need to get married and have our own baby...) and she accepted the notion that it’s not necessary and that her dad and I love each other and love to be each other’s friend she seemed pretty content with that answer. But sometimes “mamma said that all snakes are evil because they’re Satan’s animals” and it’s like what are y’all smoking?
My mother pushed pink on me. I remember wanting a pastel blue teddy bear and being told "No, blue is for boys, you must have the pink one." I've hated that shade of pink ever since.
when i was a young lady, i told myself i liked blue precisely because i dont want to be seen as a girly girl. now that i am menopausal i feel free to revert to my true pink-loving self :( society is f****d up
Yeah gender should disappear. It only does harm and has no function.
It's good that your sons have you.
It's a minefield with kids isn't it.