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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-reinikainen avatar
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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María Hermida
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The problem is that, at least in my country, the pink version is more expensive.

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

So the pink one is "girly girl", while the other one is "North american": another good example of masculine being used as universal, and feminine being used as a difference.

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

I don't want hot pink binoculars with flowers! If I'm going to play spy I'm going to want something a little less conspicuous!

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

I like the binoculars because they are pink. I don't like the fact that they are gendered.

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

Yeah, I totally can't look through binoculars unless they are pink and floral

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

my girl would take the pink one. my boy would take the camouflage one. but i Don't think the mention girl or north american (read here boys) were necessary

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

This is the kind of tacky n cheap plastic c**p that is piling up in our oceans 😢

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

So, are you 'normal' or 'female' is the question posed by the manufacturer. I think even men these days are baulking at this kind of sexism shoe-horned into products and life in general. They are neither North American nor 'Girly Girl' they are 'Binoculars' and that is all..

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

>:o this is so bad! I hate it when people gender things. Pink is a nice colour and all, but does it really need to be on all girl products!?

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Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They mostly are just trying to make a sale. A lot of young girls like under 10 will but everything pink. Not all girls. And if these pink binoculars make them interested in bird watching or something like that then good. It's like pink camo. No use for it, but they make it for a sale.

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

I have pink camo wrapping paper. (Also blue and green; I bought one of each... When someone annoys me, they get pink!)

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

I think these are just choices. Everyone likes to have things that match their style . Boys can like girly ones and girls can like boyish ones. Some people like camo and some like flowers . Girly girl is a popular expression, not necessarily a gender tag. Besides , the age of children these are intended for don't care about the name on the packaging . It's the first thing they discard

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Kostas
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4 years ago

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they are themed not gendered. don't pretend that there are no girly girls. other one is animal themed not boys themed

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Peggy Faulkner
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4 years ago (edited)

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So they are "girly girl" ....meaning very feminine. If they were just labeled ' girl' binoculars then I would assume that they arnt giving me a choice here. To me, in this case girly girl is just a descriptive. I am ever tired of living in a society that takes offense at every trivial thing. Some of these comments are ridiculous.......they are just plastic kids binoculars for crying out loud. Some girls ARE girly girls.....these gender issues are getting out of control.I take much more offense at the unessential use of plastic here.

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Jon Davis
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4 years ago

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Take it easy retards, girls tend to prefer the color pink

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Jon Davis
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4 years ago

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It's just pink binoculars, take it easy retards !

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

They point is that they're labelled as for boys and girls. Why don't you understand this???

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Jeremy
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4 years ago

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Look it's obvious blue veins in penis pink vagina..get over it that's just what it is

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Jeremy
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4 years ago

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When you see pink do u think boy or girl? Girl comes without thinking its ingrained and instinctive

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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.
Community Member
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
Community Member
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
Community Member
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
Community Member
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.