A Conscientious Consumer

I went around to various stores and scanned their shelves for gendered products and advertising. There were gendered soaps, deodorant, razors specifically targeted at men or women, and subtly gendered floss, chapstick, nail products, and even glasses – not outwardly stated to be for a specific gender, but the packaging and marketing made it obvious who it was geared towards.

I also found some packs of three men’s razors for as low as $3.97 and a pack of six women’s razors for as much as $19.97. Comparing the advertising, the women’s razors focused more on being flashy and showing off how many razors you were getting and the benefits with a soft, light-colored design, while the men’s were centered around what the product was and simple, clean advertising with sharp, dark colors.

However, some people don’t notice these sorts of things as much as others.

“I can’t say I [encounter gendered advertising] very often,” Wheeling Park teacher Mr. Stanton said. “But in social studies, we’re doing a holiday toy drive. And that is actually something that I’m going to start thinking about because even when [people are] shopping for the toy drive, they get a doll, or they get the Matchbox cars or the monster truck… When these toys have to be distributed, they need things that are a little bit more neutral or just understanding of the different children that are out there and how they identify.” 

He also said that when shopping for presents for his sister, he generally sticks to more feminine products and strays away from things that are male-oriented. “I think it’s automatic… I’ve never really even thought about it until this conversation. And I think now I’m going to be a little bit more observant when I do shop or just when I’m seeing stuff in stores in general.”