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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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#8

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

I wonder if this is more about making it easier to get your kids to eat their damn breakfast already. Little Keightlynne will happily snarf down her Pretty Princess Eggs, and Brayden will get excited about having his Big Boy Pirate Treasure Breakfast.

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

its cute ... and it doesnt say for girls or boys?? people take everything too serious

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

SJWs are down-voting you for a perfectly reasonable comment. So I up-voted you.

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

This product isn't gendered? It doesn't say eggs for girls or eggs for boys, what's to stop a girl seeing the pirate eggs and saying they want them or a boy seeing the princess eggs and saying they want those ones

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

This is from Denmark and I truly believe that the happy Danes will be perfectly okay with their daughters choosing the pirate carton and the sons choosing the princess one.

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

Norway, but the same goes for norwegians. (Egg in Norwegian, æg in danish.)

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

This was back in 2013 to get kids to eat more egg. I dont remember if they even lasted a season.

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

And nothing says one has to be for girls it’s simply a princess in pink lol

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

Hm. I thought that marketing specifically targeting children was illegal in Norway.

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

Are they real eggs or candy eggs with toys in them? Either way, no need for gendering.

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

I think this wins. This might be the MOST UNNECESSARY gendering of a product ever... and most unnecessarily aimed at children. They’re EGGS, FFS.

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

Really?! Eggs?! I thought they were the only thing I could trust not to do this!

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

This is a way to get kids to eat more eggs These products/foods are all marketing ploys. MadAve has been doing this forever. Same with almost all the other gender-specif products

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

Princess eggs? lol I think I actually said once, here are your eggs, princess, to my daughter.

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

My grandson would pick either. He's four , and sometimes he likes princesses and pink , and sometimes he like blue and super hero's. Raise your kids to love and respect anyone , and these gender specific products aren't a problem

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

Quite frankly, if I was offered this color carton choice in my grocery store, I'd go for the pink.

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

Bluuuurgh, if roosters lay eggs i don't think I want to eat them.

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

I bet you they are actually chocolate eggs in there for Easter!

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

So if I put the eggs in an incubator, will they hatch pirates and princesses?

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Ed Souza
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know, some very young girls like buying everything in pink. My daughter always goes for pink, purple or some variation of both... hence why companies market toys this way. Perfectly normal.

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

Translation is "princess eggs" and "pirate eggs". I'm disappointed in you Sweden....

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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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#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.