Who put their gender in my shampoo?

[SuzanneBender]

Is our world defined by Madison Avenue? Many could argue that this is the case even when it comes to gender. Perhaps the true test of our acceptance into society will be when we begin to see bath products made with the transgender consumer in mind. I'm not holding my breath until that happens because blue just isn't my color.

As I stepped in the men’s shower trailer this morning I noticed a phenomenon that has been one of the few constants in my life throughout my years. Despite the advent of inventions like shower baskets, gym bags, shaving kits and lockers, the male of our species has an innate tendency to orphan their personal hygiene products. Go take a peak at any men’s locker room in a school, gym or wherever else men decide to groom and you will note this inevitable occurrence with your own eyes. You will see numerous bottles of wayward shampoos, mouthwash, body sprays and other hygiene products. I find this to be further proof that I am female at heart. Despite my ability to loose car keys in a matter of nano-seconds I never misplace my personal hygiene products. A girl has to have her priorities and mine are directly anchored in vanity. Unfortunately, I have never used the female shower room at a school, gym or even in a war zone, but I would expect that the collection of wayward shower products ever present in men’s showers is not found in the female shower room. I wonder if Transmen inherit the ability to just depart the shower room with no regard for the bottles of beauty products that they are abandoning.

As I stared at this strange collection of colored bottles I also began to notice another tendency concerning these products. Almost every one of them had some method of denoting they are a masculine product. Some were simply labeled shampoo for men. Some appealed to male sexual desire with line drawings of naked buxom females on them kissing a male. Others we more inconspicuous but the dark green and black colors on the bottles that certainly trend toward the male segment of the market. I did not see one pink or light blue bottle in this motley collection of products. There were no words that said anything about floral smells, spring mist or even sea spray. Almost every bottle in the place screamed use me and you will prove that you are 100% manly man.

This made me think. What would happen to personal hygiene product marketing if society stopped forcing us into one gender box or the other? Would Madison Avenue start ad campaigns like, “Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman and appropriate for everyone else”? Would we see shampoo for men, shampoo for woman, and shampoo for transgender? Could we actually shave our faces with the pink razors rather than the grey razors? Oh the possibilities are endless! In the immortal words of Louie Armstrong, “What a wonderful world it would be”. We would be free at last to proudly display our light green scrunchies and Olay peach dream body wash!

[sissystephanie]

I do use a PINK razor, female shampoo, and definitely female body wash!! Been doing that for years, and still haven't heard from Madison Avenue!! And last time I took a good look, I was still a man!!

[VanessaVW]

Interesting post. Never really thought about gender and personal hygiene products to much extent until now. In thinking about the past 30 or so years, at least in my experience, everyone used soap and shampoo. Now it seems that eveyone must have their "proper" gender's products. Many still use regular bar soap, but walking through the personal hygiene aisle in the market, the majority of products are gender specific. Why should we have gender specific products? Cross-washing? Really? Lord forbid!!!

[KrystalA]

It seems like many of the feminine products (shampoo, etc.) are much more heavily perfumed than those for men. It's almost like they think women need to cover up natural scents and men don't.

[juno]

It's not all hype. Some products are formualated dfferently for men. For example, hair removers are higher strength, as well as being in a black bottle that says "Don't worry, you are still a man if you use me."

Normal American men are very homophobic. An early Candid Camera show had a woman ask a man to hold her purse for a minute, followed by a couple walking by to comment that it looks nice to see a man with a purse. It was a bit comical, but nobody freaked out. In a more recent remake, it didn't work because all the men held it away from their body with finger tips, like they were holding a dead rat. Maybe it is all the gender oriented marketing that has men so freaked out.

[Jay Cee]

Interesting post, Suzanne. Now that you mention it, I too have lost my keys countless time. However, I don't think I have lost my moisturizer, any earrings (or other jewelry), or femme clothes once. Maybe I need to let my femme side do the organizing in my life?

[VanessaVW]

It's not all hype. Some products are formualated dfferently for men. For example, hair removers are higher strength, as well as being in a black bottle that says "Don't worry, you are still a man if you use me."

Normal American men are very homophobic. An early Candid Camera show had a woman ask a man to hold her purse for a minute, followed by a couple walking by to comment that it looks nice to see a man with a purse. It was a bit comical, but nobody freaked out. In a more recent remake, it didn't work because all the men held it away from their body with finger tips, like they were holding a dead rat. Maybe it is all the gender oriented marketing that has men so freaked out.

Hence the jokes about holding a "murse". We tend to think that society has progressed and that we're much more tolerant as time goes on, but it's just not true.

[StaceyJane]

Suzanne, you are living in luxury having a shower trailer. When I first got to Kuwait we had a broken shower to use. We would get into the shower stalls and pour bottled water on ourselves to wash.
In Iraq the first shower I used was a post wide shower. I had to ride in the back of a truck to a shower point and then wait in line for a 7 minute shower. That's seven minutes to go from wearing the PT uniform to washed to back in the PT uniform.
A little later my unit got it's own shower but I still had to share a shower.
Talk about too close for comfort.

[JohnH]

The fragile "manly" ego is something that causes my blood to boil over.
I was not raised to buy into that bilge that men cannot use "feminine" products - my dad used Ban roll on deodorant.

At one time deodorant was marketed as "unisex" and maybe there was Gillette's Right Guard (about as effective as "Left Tackle"). And then thanks to marketing there came to be a category of deodorants targeted for men.

Johanna

[NicoleScott]

Send me to the corner for naughty crossdressers. I use razors for men to shave (face, legs, arms, chest). But I do use girly products when in girl mode and products for guys when in guy mode (deodorant, after shave/perfume, lotions). I love flowery perfumes. Scents in male products seem to be more spicy in nature.
I ued to wear English Leather. What was the name of that lime-scented after shave that was hugely popular decades ago? I loved it.

[herwannabe]

Everythng I use is femme :battingeyelashes:, I have since divorce 6 yrs now. pink razors, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, soap, hair spray, foo foo's, everything! I have male items but just for show. :D

I guess that just shows how much I wish I was a GG :sad:

[Sara Jessica]

Hmmmm, definitely makes one think.

You can start with a couple givens such as 1) gender is what it is at birth, and 2) gender socialization throughout development isn't such a bad thing. That is, can we accept the fact that females and males are different? If so, then it makes perfect sense (or is that "scents") to market products along gender lines. It must work because otherwise it wouldn't be done.

But where I fully embrace the differences between the sexes (it happens that I'd prefer to be on the other team, even if I were to be picked last), socialization and society in general breaks down when it comes to blurring the lines. In other words, I'm not so much an advocate for abandonment of gender differences just to make our community a little more comfy in this world. Rather, I'd prefer to see acceptance of our community in it's many presentations as something that is simply normal. This wouldn't impact the target marketing you describe but at least it would eliminate any need for 'splaining why there's nothing but Bath & Body Works product in the shower and Secret in the medicine cabinet.

[SuzanneBender]

Interesting post. Never really thought about gender and personal hygiene products to much extent until now...Cross-washing? Really? Lord forbid!!! Vanessa I think you have discovered a whole new transgender trend. We can now take underdressing to a new level!!!


It's not all hype. Some products are formualated dfferently for men. For example, hair removers are higher strength, as well as being in a black bottle that says "Don't worry, you are still a man if you use me.". The black bottle may say that but they should still print in tiny letters at the bottom of the label "We really know why you want to be smooth from head to toe"


Suzanne, you are living in luxury having a shower trailer. When I first got to Kuwait we had a broken shower to use. A little later my unit got it's own shower but I still had to share a shower.Talk about too close for comfort. I love our shower trailer. Sure its tiny. Three little showers, two sinks and three toilets for 60 soldiers, but its ours. We limit ourselves to 5 minute showers just because we don't know when our well is going to run dry. I hear you about being too close for comfort. If you get more than two people in there at a time its almost intimate. I know DADT just passed, but that is still not my bag baby.....


Send me to the corner for naughty crossdressers. I use razors for men to shave (face, legs, arms, chest). Nicole get out of that corner! Its OK to use the grey razor. I still believe that they skimp on the quality with women's razors. My wife uses my grey razor and ,truth be told, I do also. You aren't thinking about Brute aftershave are you? I haven't worn aftershave for years. I use a nice toning astringent as my aftershave. CK One is about as manly as I get with my fragrances anymore, but who can really tell the difference?

[docrobbysherry]

My NOSE tells me we MAY be moving in the direction u prefer, Suzanne!

These days, I'm as likely to have my lunch disturbed by a MAN wearing some overpowering, sinus destroying cologne, as a WOMAN wearing a perfume that has the same MACE affect on me!

So, cologne for men, perfume for women? They BOTH smell nearly the same, and can make me sneeze, cough, and leave the room!

PLEASE DON'T BATHE in your chosen BODY FRAGRANCE girls and/or boys!

[SuzanneBender]

I'm not so much an advocate for abandonment of gender differences just to make our community a little more comfy in this world. Rather, I'd prefer to see acceptance of our community in it's many presentations as something that is simply normal. This wouldn't impact the target marketing you describe but at least it would eliminate any need for 'splaining why there's nothing but Bath & Body Works product in the shower and Secret in the medicine cabinet. Makes scents to me. :heehee: Girl I am not advocating for one androgynous world. Ewwwww boring! I just think it would be wonderful if the world could accept that gender comes in degrees and that we should get to choose our roles rather than being forced into a gender by the genetic lottery. Some of us wish to play on one team (save me a spot on the bench) and some of us are good with being a free agent. The advantage here wouldn't be a new target market. It would be that those orphaned bottles would be a lot more colorful. And I want to know what you doing sneaking a peak in my medicine cabinet! :D


My NOSE tells me we MAY be moving in the direction u prefer, Suzanne!smell nearly the same, and can make me sneeze, cough, and leave the room!

PLEASE DON'T BATHE in your chosen BODY FRAGRANCE girls and/or boys!

Sherry totally agree. A subtle fragrance is intoxicating, but too much fragrance is just toxic.

[Nicole Brown]

Good question Suzanne, personally I just use what I like and what works best for me. For shaving I still use a Fusion Powerglide razor because it gives me the closest facial shave possible. For everywhere else, I use a pink razor. Either way, I use a soft sweet smelling gel because I love its aroma. For soap, I use Dove at all times because I like the way it leaves my skin feeling so soft. Shampoo and conditioner are also the same for either mode. I use Suave Aloe and Waterlily because of their sweet subtle smell.

For me, Madison Avenue can do all of the labeling and advertising they want to do. I just find a product that I like and that works well for me and I stay with it.

[Xenia]

I've got a bottle of Dove for Men body wash in my shower (not my purchase, my wife picked it up for me months ago, and it's hung around so long because I don't really like it very much). I always get a little chuckle when I look at the bottle, because of how hard it tries to be "manly": dark grey bottle, white and green printing, MEN as the largest word on the front, all printed in bold, stolid sanserif fonts (no froufrou cursive for them!).

But then, I guess it's actually progress. Twenty years ago, the very idea of "body wash" for men probably would have been seen as ludicrous. Men just used a bar of soap, and all that other stuff was for girls. I remember seeing a TV commercial for conditioner aimed at men maybe 15 or so years ago in which the script writer felt the need to have the voice-over guy explain what conditioner even was. Heck, my dad is still so old-school that he doesn't even use shampoo, just a bar of Dial for his body, face, and hair......he'd probably have a conniption if he ever got a load of my shower, with its overabundance of body washes, exfoliants, facial scrubs, loofahs, etc.

[Stephanie47]

If it works, I use it. I do not like to smell like a piece of fruit, etc. My wife has allergies, so I cannot use a 'manly' smelling product because it brings on breathing problems for her. We use unscented products. I've been using Ivory bar soap since I was invented. I use my wife's unscented shampoo or conditioner on my hair because of her allergies.

[2SpeedTranny]

I don't know why anyone would want to use some of that stuff, honestly. Most shampoos, most of what they call "soap," and most deodorants are just plain toxic. Ever read the ingredients? Yummy, petroleum byproducts.

"Axe" is probably one of the worst offenders. A whiff of that about bowls me over in a coughing fit. The "feminine" scented chemical soups are no better -- just different.

I thought I was losing my hair in my early 20s. Turned out, it was my shampoo. My hair stopped falling out when I quit using it. Seriously.


http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/


Sorry to be a buzzkill... but why trade boy poison for girl poison when no poison is better?

[Eryn]

As the only genetic male in my household I haven't seen a masculine-leaning product in years other than my electric shaver. I'm perfectly happy using the nice neutral and feminine-leaning products that magically appear in the bathroom. :)

[Frédérique]

“Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman and appropriate for everyone else”

How about “Strong enough (or appropriate) for a man, but made for a woman, if you happen to be one now and then…?” :eek:

[linnea]

Suzanne, I love your posts! I've thought of some of these thoughts, and I asked one of my sons who is an executive at a big personal care product company if there is any difference between deodorant products that are aimed at men rather than women. He said that the only difference is fragrance and even some of those are the same--just the packaging is different. I enjoy using my pink razors and girly gargle, but in the long run it's all the same. I do think that it would be a wonderful world if we didn't have to worry about the colors or gender-specifications on toothpaste and the like. I also like Frederique's "now and then" comment.

[Babeba]

I wrote about scent for my dissertation, and when I was doing my research I came across an interesting phenomenon: in the past 15 years or so (and definitely in the past 5 years even more) the number of unisex parfums has really skyrocketed. Lots of androgynous scents seem to be based on 'green' smells (like cucumber, or forests right after the rain). Spicy, civet like musks are still the domain of men, and florals still fairly feminine, but there is quite a bit of boundary crossing. In the past year I've seen about five or six products using coumarin (traditionally earthy and 'manly') in products that could be used by men or women like shampoos or face masks. Alright, doing a facemask is still really girly - but the store it's from does target men quite a bit!

I don't think that fragrance being a core part of what people think of when they think about gender will change; it's too emotional, too ingrained from such a young age. I do think that it's something that is becoming more acceptable to play with, however. It still does have meanings, but it's becoming more common for those meanings to be bent, blurred and used to make statements. Because when perfume is put on properly, you can only detect it from a close distance - it's very intimate and that very intimacy of space makes savouring someone's perfume a very meaningful and personal moment.

If you're interested, there are some very good books on the subject; one of my favourites is a pamphlet of perfume reviews by Luca Turin from years and years ago. He mainly reviews female perfumes, and suggests ones that would be appropriate for daring males.

[JohnH]

But then, I guess it's actually progress. Twenty years ago, the very idea of "body wash" for men probably would have been seen as ludicrous. Men just used a bar of soap, and all that other stuff was for girls. I remember seeing a TV commercial for conditioner aimed at men maybe 15 or so years ago in which the script writer felt the need to have the voice-over guy explain what conditioner even was. Heck, my dad is still so old-school that he doesn't even use shampoo, just a bar of Dial for his body, face, and hair......he'd probably have a conniption if he ever got a load of my shower, with its overabundance of body washes, exfoliants, facial scrubs, loofahs, etc.

Your dad is really old school. I can remember that in the 1960's my dad used shampoo (and he was born in 1921). As for Dial soap, that stuff really does not control the body odor, blackheads, or whiteheads as well as Dove exfoliant soap. Since I started using that Dove soap my complexion cleared up and the oil plugs in my skin went away.

Johanna

[Rogina B]

Boys are so messy and wreck everything...The shower trailer is good if it had a dishsoap dispenser[big one] and a dish scrubby on a rope so the boys wouldn't misplace it..Wait till the drain gets clogged with pubic hair...whose duty is that to straighten out?

[Sarah Doepner]

What was the name of that lime-scented after shave that was hugely popular decades ago? I loved it.

The one I remember is Hai Karate!

Marketing is an incredibly powerful force in our world. When someone first started selling body wash for men, they put an NFL pro-bowl lineman in the commercial using the wash with a puff, daring anyone to make fun of him. They always use the most masculine guy they can find whenever there is a possible question of how gender appropriate a product may be. Recently I saw an ad that may have been for either razors or shave gel (I keep the sound off, so I'm not sure), but they had a very buff guy shaving his chest and I think they also had his girl run her hand over his smooth pecs just to show he was a man's man.

It would be very interesting to see how things would change if the marketing giants abandoned or at least relaxed gender as part of their targeting. There is a possibility that may happen eventually as age, sex and race become secondary to actual interests that can be researched via our internet clicks, smart phone use and actual shopping behaviors.

[luludoll]

@suzanne

Well that's not really fair metrosexuals dress better, smell better & have a greater fashion sense than most guys. Honestly not all straight guys dress like slobs or smell like week old pizza. Predating my recent femme revelation, I wore (still wear) del fusero / cacharel suits, dunhill shirts, bathe in polo double black body wash & shampoo, touch up with a dab of joop or mont blanc starwalker & sport claude bernard timepiece. Wax / shave, get eyebrows done, all in a day of being a metro.

Quite the experience when you're living in high fashion metropolitan area. Its not a gender thing its a lifestyle choice. Its just not practical & economical to be doing it everyday though lol.