"For Men"

    Working at a drugstore, I notice a lot of products marketed specifically “for men”. The thing is, most of these items have no reason to be gendered. Skincare, bodywash, shampoo, and cologne could really be suitable for anybody. Yet it’s divided. I would say, and this isn’t a unique or groundbreaking opinion at all, that this is only done because otherwise men wouldn’t purchase these things. 
    It all boils down to toxic masculinity. If a man does something that’s stereotypically a “womanly” thing, then they are lesser men. Designing a grey five-in-one all over body cleanser bottle with a scent of “stoic granite” because that seems “manly” is really stupid looking when you stock shleves for a living. It’s just so unnecessary but so ingrained in our brains now that it often goes overlooked. The fact that being clean and taking care of one’s body is perceived as “feminine” is truly bonkers. Also that being “feminine” is a bad thing as well. 
    I remember a couple years ago, I was stocking hair care products, specifically men’s styling aids like gels, pomades, and pastes. I was working alongside this chap who looked like he had slept once ten years ago and was unfamiliar with the term “self care”. As I was placing some hair wax on a shelf, he said, 
“Are guys getting gayer?”
This took me aback because I couldn’t understand where this comment came from. Thus, I asked and he replied with an explanation about how using all these hair products and caring about one’s appearance makes a fellow gay. He even had the audacity to say that more guys should look like him, a worn down, disheveled person who seems like their biggest accomplishment is constantly smoking weed in their spare time and doing absolutely nothing else. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. It was such a ridiculous comment but at the same time, I knew plenty of other lads felt the same way because somewhere down the line, being clean and taking care of oneself became something to look down upon as a gent. Frankly, I think it’s a mindset that needs to be changed. Instead of marketing products as “for men” or “unisex”, just market them as what they are. Scents should not be gendered, that’s stupid. Colors should not be gendered, that’s also stupid. And making a three-in-one shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash should be illegal because it’s lazy and ineffective.
Personal hygiene and sprucing should be taught to everyone regardless of gender. I feel most folks are attracted to those that look like they take care of themselves rather than those that look like they don’t give a shit such as that coworker. I simply lack an understanding as to when it was decided that men could not put effort into their appearance without getting scorned. It seems such an odd thing to taunt a person about and now it’s led to this gender specific advertising probably because everyone was getting tired of being surrounded by stinky, sloppy boys. 
This messes things up for women too. Men’s razors and deodorants are generally better since the razors are more gentle and the deodorant more strong and long lasting. Not to mention the “pink tax” where women have to pay more for essentially the same thing. At the same time, gendering care products limit men to a much smaller selection as women tend to have a wider variety of face cleansers, serums, anti age creams, and moisturizers marketed to them. However, men could also use these products just as much, but don’t due to the whole stigma around using the same thing as a lady. Now I might be biased because the only section of my skin that isn’t sensitive is my face, weirdly enough, but I use both men’s and women’s skincare products. I honestly see no difference between them besides scent. I like men’s body washes because I fancy a more musky or woody smell, this also goes for deodorant and cologne but the actual quality and effect is basically the same. I could see how some men’s face care products would be rougher because maybe the skin is not as gentle because of a lack of estrogen or something. Although, having a variety of formula intensities would solve that problem pretty quickly. 
In the end, everything should be made with the same amount of quality and just be separated by different scents and different skin types. Razors should all be gentle, deodorant should all last for long and sweaty hours, and shampoo should always be separate from conditioner and body wash. No more of this “just for men'' kind of bullshit. We are all people and we all have bodies that need to be cleaned and taken care of. Pampering and grooming leads to a happy, healthy, and confident individual and that should not be limited to a single gender. Not to mention that the packaging for these “men’s” items should be way more creative and fun looking over drab grey and black bottles. Colors aren’t “girly”, colors are colorful and eye-catching and helpful to selling more products. This whole make-everything-look-super-masculine-even-though-the-defintion-of-masculine-changes-each-generation-so-we-don’t-actually-know-what-is-really-masculine-but-try-anyway-because-men-won’t-buy-it-otherwise is a dumb mindset. I can tell you now, as someone who was a teenager once, being around guys that don’t know what personal hygiene is because that’s “gay” and “girly” is a pretty gnarly time for the nose. When the puberty hits, there is no mercy from weird, strong body odors emanating from both lads and lasses. So, to spare all the upcoming teenagers and the adults that have to be near them this suffering, let us stop giving people an identity crisis everytime they go to buy hairspray and acne cleansers. If we educate them when they’re young, they won’t grow up to be like that stupid ass coworker. Dumb idiot he was.