“Gender” by Benjamin Cudmore
Gender is how people perceive their sexual identity and is not necessarily determined by the biological difference of male or female. By walking through a convenience store, there are many different products that appear to look more feminine or masculine. When examining brands that produce shaving products, soaps, or other cosmetics, typically men’s are blue and women’s are pink. Similarly, brands also create names that try to get people to conform to gender norms. Without blatantly labeling a product as for a certain sex, some products for men sound more masculine like “Old Spice” or “Axe.” In contrast, products targeted for women might sound feminine like “Dove” or “Secret.” Nevertheless, if I am asked to choose between using a “Dove” product or one made by “Axe,” I am choosing “Dove” in a heart beat. Brands like “Dove” that create products for women are also trying to cater to men. One way this brand tries to get men to buy its product is by making deodorant that is essentially the same as the ones marketed for women, but with different packaging. By simply redecorating a product to make it available for the opposite sex, it leaves me with a burning question. Are brands like “Dove” taking a step towards not examining gender in a black and white lens, or are they encouraging conformity?
That last question you asked is intriguing. I think that brands, like Dove, are attempting to be a more ‘inclusive’ brand by catering to both genders, however because of that, they’re indirecting conforming to gender norms as well. While dove is catering to men by making ‘manly’ deodorants, they’re, as you said, redecorating the product to make it appear more ‘manly.’ What’s the difference between the two deodorants other than scent and packaging? While Dove could have released more scents that are of wider range, the company provided scents that are suggested as ‘manly’ scents when packaged with ‘manlier,’ darker packaging, which is a clear difference between the usual, white design dove has. Therefore, I believe that as a facade, companies like dove release products which make their company seem more inclusive to things outside their conformity, however by doing so, they’re actually just adding to gender constructs by indirectly telling consumers that there are clear differences between genders (for example, packaging, scents, colors, etc.)
It is interesting to see how gendered the marketing of many similar products can be. When you mentioned the fact that products marketed towards women will often be colored pink, it made me think of the “pink tax”. The pink tax is an invisible tax women pay on their products which can be more expensive than the comparative men’s products. It also makes me think of the many women I know who, for one reason or another, buy the “men’s” version of a product. Some say the men’s products are cheaper or work better. This makes me wonder how effective this gendered marketing truly is and who it really serves.
Here is a link to the wiki page on the pink tax for further info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_tax
This post and its comments begins to draw distinctions between genuine approaches and portrayed approaches. Do we think Dove genuinely seeks a broader approach to gender, or do we think it’s a cosmetic change designed to increase sales and profits? These are difficult questions with corporations that are profit motivated.
The Marketing industry has indeed taken advantage of the socially constructed gender stereotypes for profit maximization. The fact that we the consumers continue to buy and associate with this gender marketing can lead to a question of whether it is the gender stereotypes being passed down or whether the blame can be solely put on these corporations that promote them through the media in form of advertising. You gave clear examples like dove but this methodology has been picked up by almost all companies especially in the beauty industry or companies that produce for multiple genders for example clothing companies, shoe companies etc