The marketing world mystifies me at times. Some items cost what I deem appropriate, while others are downright exorbitant. Take, for example, drip coffee. A tall coffee at Starbucks costs around $2, and to make it at home, on average less than 20 cents. The upcharge is because when you go into a coffee shop, you are paying for more than just the coffee. The purchase price covers a slew of external business expenses as well. Starbucks has to pay to keep the buildings maintained, personnel employed, and insurance covered, which incurs the higher beverage prices.
 
But what determines an item’s cost?
 
Sometimes it appears the gender of the intended buyer. For instance, women’s razors cost more than the male alternatives. Both men and women use razors to do the same thing – cut hair – but the razors marketed to women have a higher price tag. Not only does consumer gender impact the cost, but also sometimes the item itself.
 
If you go into the store to find shower products, for example, the one for men costs $2-3 cheaper than for women. Furthermore, the men’s product does more than one thing. The bottle contains a liquid that functions as a shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. I have yet to find a female three-in-one shower product at a grocery store. Instead, the merchandise for women requires a ten-step process to take a shower. There are conditioners to apply during the shower to wash out and those for leave-in. There is one soap to wash the face and an entirely different one for the rest. It makes no sense to me. Why are there not the same type of shower products for all consumers? Shower products are a typical example of gendered marketing.
 
Gendered marketing starts at a young age. Just walk through the aisles for children’s toys in Walmart or your favorite store and you will see it, too. Toys targeted at boys, like trucks, action figures, and monsters are in aisles swamped in blue; those aimed at girls fill rows drenched in pink. This same marketing only continues the older one gets. Different commercials air on channels such as ESPN and Fox Sports between sports games than those shown on ABC when the soap operas are on. The marketing campaigns of companies adjust to their viewership to get the greatest return on investment. If that means showing Hooters commercials only on sports channels, so be it.
 
But this same attitude is responsible for several negative social constructs and stereotypes. This type of marketing fuels toxic masculinity, with men repeatedly being told through marketing and subliminal messaging to not express their emotions and always remain tough. It also creates gender role dysphoria, teaching women they need to stay in the kitchen and rear children instead of being out in the workforce. When not hitting hard, men are told they punch like a girl as an insult. And when a woman is strong and confident in the workplace, she is bossy and overbearing, not showing leadership and direction.
 
Even though the marketing material does not explicitly tell us these messages, they are ingrained in our brains, reinforced by pop culture and societal norms. These gender stereotypes are detrimental to all genders and ages because it puts individuals in boxes, forced to conform to an outside standard of how they should behave, think, and exist. It creates glass ceilings in the corporate world and prevents excellent leaders regardless of gender from reaching their fullest potential in their career, life, and relationships. Having a blue or a pink razor may mean nothing to you personally, but what does a sea of blue and pink items do to us as a society? Do we need to be divided by this color as well?
 
– Vanessa Davis
 
Vanessa is a master’s student at the Bush School of Government and Public Service.