Can Pens Be Gender Specific?
As high school student I think we can all agree we go through many pens, whether that be we use up all the ink or simply lose them form time to time. Recently, I needed to purchase some new pens, so I decided to hit up amazon with the intentions of buying a regular old box of black Bic pens, the kind we've all been using since elementary school. When I searched Bic pens I was shocked at the result. A new set of pens had came out called "Bic for Her." It was marketed as "a stylish pen designed just for her." Who knew that all this time us females have been using men's pens. For the cherry on top, the pens are pink and purple, because that's every girls favorite color, right?
The idea of pens being specifically for men and women is crazy. What's even crazier is that Bic is charging $13 for two pens when a box of 144 black pens cost the same amount. What defines whether a pen should be used by a male vs a female, or vice versa? The most insulting part of this product is its extremely sexist ad.
The fact that they put "Look like a girl...Think like a man" is disgusting. In this current day and age it is ads like these that influence young girls to think they are less than men or boys. It is bad enough that girls feel the need to act a certain way due to media's expectations. However when young girls or teens see ads like this how can they think any differently. Gender stereotyping is something that needs to be left in the past, but it can't be done when everyday items are being promoted specifying what sex should be using what product.
I completely agree with you. It is so dumb and sexist that something like pens have to be gendered. It makes no sense and seems like a poor marketing strategy at that as you are telling a big consumer market that they cannot use this as it's ''for girls" or "for boys". I still do not really know what the point is of having this type of marketing as it's offensive and dumb. I hope this becomes less of thing in the future and realize that pens do not need to be gendered.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this product is extremely sexist and unnecessary. I think especially at a time like now, where we are trying to overcome gender roles and assumptions, Bic pens made a big mistake by making this product and even worse promoting it the way they did. This product contradicts the progress made socially recently and is embarrassing for the brand itself.
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