I came across this recently while shopping for toppings for a common breakfast in my house: yogurt, fruit and granola. I bought it, but really, men’s energy mix? Women don’t eat nuts and seeds? I’ve argued before that gender specific anything is usually a bad idea. Often what it means is code for smaller but some women are bigger and some men are smaller. Why not just say “large” and “small”?
And not here, but over at the Feminist Philosophers blog, I’ve written about gendered foods before including pink princess goldfish crackers, bread for men, and macho cupcakes (think whiskey and bacon). Tracy has written at this blog about Luna bars and their gendered marketing. (I’ve offered one to a guy before on a bike ride only to have the men nervously chuckle and make jokes about growing breasts or getting PMS. Sigh. They’re just small energy bars.)
For an answer to the question of why we should care about pointlessly gendered products (as opposed to just laughing at them) Lisa Wade’s Five Reasons Why Gendered Products are a Problem is worth a read.
My favourite (as in most loved) of the manly foods was New Zealand’s yoghurt for men which said right on it, “This is men’s yoghurt and you are a man.” See Yoghurt for real men. No more teenie tiny tubs!
For some reason all of these remind me of that classic Irish Spring ad from the 80s!
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