Gender Pens

[bhskeeper11]

So, I was watching the telly today... and I saw a commercial that literally had me double-take.

 

It was a commercial for BIC pens (not sure if this is just a US thing, but BIC is a really popular brand of pens and pencils). A young female (probably about 15 years old) walked through the hallway of her school and asked to borrow a pen. Boys from all around reach out to give her an assortment of blue and black pens. She declines and frowns and then the BIC mascot man hands her a pink pen and she grabs it and is all happy again. They are dubbed "BIC for her."

 

I'm sorry... when did men take over blue and black ink pens? When did the standard pen become a "male" thing?

 

I just had to share this. It blew my mind. >.>

[keyholder21]

That's.........ridiculous.

[Aiel Heart]

Marketing. Girls "need" pink pens for the same reason that they "need" pastel colored legos. If they market something as "boy" and "girl" then they sell twice as many

[Basel Gill]

Is the pen just colored pink, or is the ink pink as well? If the paper is pink, that could be hard to read.

[Kathleen]

Trouble with the marketing on that is schools usually have rules about blue or black ink so I can see that causing a lot of trouble. But I'm sure bic doesn't care, because as it was stated, getting the boy and girl separartion means double the profits.

[bhskeeper11]

Basel, I imagine the ink is probably still black.

 

I get the marketing thing (after studying it for the last three years), but it still shocks me sometimes. It was just such a blatant ploy to show young women that they will be unhappy with man pens.

 

:hatespink:

[Kathleen]

Yeah I hate the use if boy thing/girl thing. We keep trying to find equality and also explore this stupid boy/girl thing.

[bhskeeper11]

While we're on the subject of gender things... I saw this on Tumblr today:

 

Took my little sister toy shopping today. After much browsing, she chose a pack of Hot Wheels cars. She wanted to pay so I gave her the money. As we were waiting in line, some dude waiting behind us asks:

“Buying those for your brother?”

My sister gives him a weird look, “No. They’re mine.”

“You sure you want those, sweetheart? Those are for boys.” He says.

Before I can say anything, my sister yells, like truly yells at the top of her lungs, “MY MOMMY IS A GIRL AND DRIVES A CAR EVERY DAY! GIRLS CAN HAVE CARS TOO!”

The people in front of us in line turn around. The cashier actually stops what she’s doing. Everyone stares at this guy and he just sort of turns red, grabs his kid, and disappears into the Lego aisle.

Ha.

[Niel an' Tyomn]

Lol. BIC was probably just marketing.

[Colin al'Caar]

While we're on the subject of gender things... I saw this on Tumblr today:

 

Took my little sister toy shopping today. After much browsing, she chose a pack of Hot Wheels cars. She wanted to pay so I gave her the money. As we were waiting in line, some dude waiting behind us asks:

“Buying those for your brother?”

My sister gives him a weird look, “No. They’re mine.”

“You sure you want those, sweetheart? Those are for boys.” He says.

Before I can say anything, my sister yells, like truly yells at the top of her lungs, “MY MOMMY IS A GIRL AND DRIVES A CAR EVERY DAY! GIRLS CAN HAVE CARS TOO!”

The people in front of us in line turn around. The cashier actually stops what she’s doing. Everyone stares at this guy and he just sort of turns red, grabs his kid, and disappears into the Lego aisle.

Ha.

 

This is awesome! Good for her. btw, I happen to like the color pink. I have a number of pink shirts and a couple pink ties. Defy convention!

[Karasayl]

*Looks at thw pink pen in my hand. *

 

What do they mean BIC for her? It makes my legal briefs all pretty....:'(

*sniffle*

 

 

[Masema]

Probably just trying to boost up their sales. It's just like how I never got why men and women have different razors. I've never known why different razors are for different genders.

 

On that note I saw an absolutely ludicrous commercial two days ago. It showed a woman jumping off of a building and said "Hp, imagine the possibilities." I was like o.O

[MattheHat]

Look, the pens are probably used for school right? duh...

 

So aimed at kids of the age of 8-13... believe it or not, the staggering mass of majority of girls that age actually like pink...

[MattheHat]

Probably just trying to boost up their sales. It's just like how I never got why men and women have different razors. I've never known why different razors are for different genders.

 

On that note I saw an absolutely ludicrous commercial two days ago. It showed a woman jumping off of a building and said "Hp, imagine the possibilities." I was like o.O

 

She probably meant Harry Potter... >.>

[Wren of the Brown]

When I was in elementary school, Lisa Frank stationary crap was popular with some (not all) girls in my class while the boys tended to use plain accessories so gender-based stationary is not a new thing. I can't look at the stuff without getting a migraine but I would totally rock this fan-art in class.

 

[Masema]

Probably just trying to boost up their sales. It's just like how I never got why men and women have different razors. I've never known why different razors are for different genders.

 

On that note I saw an absolutely ludicrous commercial two days ago. It showed a woman jumping off of a building and said "Hp, imagine the possibilities." I was like o.O

 

She probably meant Harry Potter... >.>

 

Nah it was a commercial for Hewlett Packard (technology company)

[John E. Kelley]

I wore a pink tie to work today.

 

Just saying.....

[Raena]

Look, the pens are probably used for school right? duh...

 

So aimed at kids of the age of 8-13... believe it or not, the staggering mass of majority of girls that age actually like pink...

 

The problem isn't really that the pens are pink or that girls like pink. It's that they are pink and called "for her". What about all the girls that don't like pink? They have to get "boy" pens? Or the boys that like pink and have to get "girl" pens? (Not that it should matter if you get "boy" stuff if you're a girl and vice versa, but, you know...)

 

Why not just make a bunch of colourful pens and call them "for kids" pens?

[MattheHat]

What about the adults!!! :pout:

[Moon Sedai]

One of my coworkers got a little irritated when a large male customer wanted to buy a purple iPhone case.

"Purple is for girls"

"It's the main color of my Alma Mater. Purple and Gold."

"then get one with both colors."

"I want a PURPLE one."

 

I told her she was being sexist and shallow minded.

[bhskeeper11]

Probably just trying to boost up their sales. It's just like how I never got why men and women have different razors. I've never known why different razors are for different genders.

 

Random... but I was curious about this very thing...so I conducted an experiment. I bought razors considered the "best" (Gillette somethingoranother) in the "male" and "female" versions. I used them and kept track of how many times I used them and for how long I used them until it wasn't "comfortable" (not sure if that's the word - basically, until the time that I would normally move on to a new razor head). Every time, the male razor head outlasted the female razor head. However, the female razor worked better the first couple of times. My theory is that female razors are made for finer hair than male razors and, thus, are closer the first couple of times but may dull faster. >.>

 

Raena - that's exactly what my issue was with it. I'm not sure if I properly conveyed that in the OP. Also, your avatar is a perfect representation of what my face looked like when I first saw the commercial.

[michellem]

I only use single-blade razor for my shaving needs, the old-fashioned kind XD

 

Making stuff for "boy" or "girl" is so stupid, and I'm sick of it. I'm generally sick of the genders being separated so hard from the moment of birth. Boy? Blue blanket. Girl? Pink blanket. And so it goes. It creates a pressure on both genders, and the hurt is on those who don't fit into that stereotype.

[keyholder21]

I wore a pink tie to work today.

 

Just saying.....

 

<3

 

Yeah. I'm not a pink fan either. I said it's ridiculous because I was just so flabbergasted that I couldn't think of anything else *laughs*. I'm with the lot of you - marketing pink "for girls" or "for her" or pushing forward this stereotype is well, ridiculous!

 

Also, did you know that way back when it was the other way around? Blue was given to young girls and pink for young boys. Talk about a turnaround!

[Lessa Nikia]

Oooo....interesting topic before I go to work.

 

The whole multicoloured pens thing, when I was in high school, last year I had a bunch of different coloured pens. I always gave my pink one away because I can't stand pink. However, for bullying or breast cancer I will have a bunch of stuff in pink.

 

Now, the whole septeration at birth, my two sisters, 4 and 2, we're born obviously not that long ago. In the hospital, the nurses dressed them in white and the blanket they each had gotten was multicoloured. They can make their own choices of clothes when my mom takes them shopping and their wardrobe is an array of colours.

[Ithillian Turambar]

*Looks at thw pink pen in my hand. *

 

What do they mean BIC for her? It makes my legal briefs all pretty....:'(

*sniffle*

 

Pink briefs? -_^