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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
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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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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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#28

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Fred and George Weasley
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

@jon davis not the bibs, whats ON the bibs. its so stupid that theyre implying that girls are simply obssessed with selfies and tht boys are smart.

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

Well, holy s**t. This is the s**t that would have made me complain, loudly, to whomever would listen, while my children hid, again.

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

Is this what society thinks women are like now? That is so insulting

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

I see that there are literally dozens of different bibs on those display hooks. That tell ms that there could be one that says "Girl Genius". For all we know, this image was staged.

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

Dafuq?? This is just outright derogatory... Reality shows that women has absolute serious standing in science, inventions etc. We would not have the field of software development, had it not been for Madame Ada's work... As a professional in IT, some of the absolute sharpest minds in IT that has crossed my path, has been female. Hats off.. I very much favour a meritocracy over anything else.

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ILOVEBAMBOO
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't take selfies but I'm at the top of my class...I just proved you wrong, bibs!

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

This one really sucks! It focuses on girls,outward appearances, and boys brains. Like girls don't have the capacity for genius.

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

I really hate this one. It assumes boys are smart and girls are vain. Put Girl Geek on the pink backpack and I am all for it.

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

I never take selfies. Also, are they implementing that boys are born smarter? ( because they’re for babys)

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

Very annoying if true, but from the many different colors on each side I think a more likely explanation is that both sides contain bibs with lots of different slogans, and there's probably a "girl genius" in pink and "ready for my selfie" in blue. These two just happened to be on the top.

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

Of course the boy is the genius. Girls actually mature faster so (in only some cases (not saying wait her is superior) they are smarter.

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

Because baby's have instagram accounts and physics discoveries to their names, right guys?

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mermaidgirl960
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I understand a lot of baby clothes are gendered and I'm fine with that considering sometimes you can't tell with newborns but like c'mon not ALL girls are social media snobs

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louis porter
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4 years ago

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

I would like to know what the rest say, see how low the can sink.

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

these are two different products. boy genius does not imply that there is no girl genius product

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

Seems legit after seeing instagram, twitter, tic tok, and all other social media

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Gwyn Plaine
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4 years ago

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Women are significantly more likely to take pictures of themselves than men, a global study into the phenomenon of taking selfies has found. The project, named Selfiecity, analysed 3,200 Instagram selfies shared in New York, Moscow, Berlin, Bangkok, and Sao Paulo in a bid to establish the difference in poses and expressions between countries. Every city analysed yielded significantly more selfies taken by women than men- from 1.3 times as many in Bangkok to 1.9 times more in Berlin - and in Moscow 4.6 times more female than male selfies. Also, studies have found the variability of male scores is greater than that of female scores, resulting in more males than females in the top and bottom of the IQ distribution. Wow, facts .................. down vote away!

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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 think the word selfie is the only thing wrong with this, then I seriously don't know what to say

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Kjorn
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4 years ago

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the selfie one wanna makes me puke. but it's sadly true. selfie addict are mostly people on instagram and mostly girls

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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.