84 Infuriating Things That Are Pointlessly Gendered

Pushing back against pointlessly gendered products and services might be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Consumers wield a lot of power. And rational business owners tend to react to changing market trends and consumer preferences.

So, voting with your wallet is one of the most powerful things you—along with your family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances—can do.

If you think that a product is overpriced, the company’s values don’t match yours, and you suspect that someone’s trying to make a quick profit, don’t reward that business with your money. On top of that, reach out to the company’s representatives about your concerns or share your insights on social media. If the behavior is egregious, reach out to your government representatives. Ask them to take a stand and protect your interests as a consumer.

Your cash, attention, and loyalty mean a lot for the longevity of any company. So, by hitting a business where it hurts (its profits and reputation), you’re forcing them to pivot and adapt.

Pointlessly gendering products can be problematic when taken to the extreme. What’s more, it can split your potential customer base.

As ‘The Society Pages’ points out, these products can reinforce gender stereotypes, lead to more inequality, and end up costing women more money. Sometimes, you’ll notice that the masculine and feminine versions of the very same product aren’t priced the same.

“When that happens, the one for women is usually the more expensive one. If women aren’t paying attention—or if it matters to them to have the ‘right‘ product—they end up shelling out more money,” ‘The Society Pages’ explains.

According to ‘Popsters,’ some consumers are becoming less receptive to gendered marketing. As such, some companies are taking note and moving toward more neutral advertising. That being said, many businesses still choose to target genders when crafting their marketing strategies.

‘Popsters’ notes that “traditional gender marketing” often focuses on functionality, short formulations, jokes, provocations, and the theme of competition when advertising for men. Meanwhile, advertisements for women typically focus on strength, independence, and the desire to stand out, while avoiding humor.

However, advertisements that discriminate, use outdated stereotypes, and use black-and-white thinking tend to cause public outcry and fail. “This is especially true for women’s advertising. Gender marketing requires the dynamic use of changes in laws and social norms,” ‘Popsters’ suggests.

Gender-neutral marketing, however, can help companies expand their target audience and increase brand loyalty. After all, this way, you’re aiming your products and services at the entire population, not just half of it. For instance, instead of labeling the toys you sell by gender, you can do so by age, product category, and brand.

The ‘Pointlessly Gendered’ subreddit was first created in March of 2015, and it continues to be popular to this very day. At the time of writing, it boasts a whopping 134k weekly visitors, as well as 3k weekly contributions.

Meanwhile, the ‘Unnecessarily Gendered’ community was created in December of that same year, but it is more niche.

Despite the differences in popularity, both online groups focus on the same thing: products that shouldn’t be gendered but are, in the most humorous ways.

As the moderators of ‘Pointlessly Gendered’ point out, their community should focus on humorous posts about gender and needlessly gendered things. Meanwhile, “certain products are gendered for a reason” and shouldn’t be posted.

Once you’ve finished looking through this list and upvoting the most egregious examples of gendered products, we’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments down below.

Realistically, what do you think it would take for companies to stop with this nonsensical product gendering? What’s the worst, most pointless example of a gendered product that you’ve stumbled upon personally? Let us know.