Do You Have a Death Wish? The Frivolity of Designing for Women.

It’s 2020 and we’re still making ridiculous products aimed at women and their supposed many, many unique needs. Need proof? I give you two absurd convention redesigns that have been either rolled out or seriously considered in that past 10 years.

Okay, clearly this one never came to fruition but I kid you not when I say it was mused upon by Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi in a 2018 podcast interview. Citing the alleged biologically innate womanly distain of excessively crunchy chips and cumbersome bag size, Nooyi publicly mused about how she would do a completely unnecessary overhaul of the beloved snack food (and undoubtedly up-charge at least $2.00 per bag in the process.) So long, Lady Doritos, I hardly knew ye.

This one actually hit the market. I give you Bic for Her, launched in 2012. Bic consulted with literally no woman ever and gave us a pen “designed to fit a woman’s hand.” The popular online periodical, Jezebel, wrote an expose on the ridiculousness of the whole ordeal and the resulting onslaught of digital defamation was (and still is) binge-worthy.

So what’s the problem? Why do these products fall short? The answer lies in false and improperly researched assumptions about what women actually want and need. Actual scientific research is key here. If you want to do something even mildly controversial, be able to back it with tangible research and you’ve already won half the battle that may or may not potentially ensue. The other half is just making sure you present the product in a way that showcases its benefits to a certain population without being alienating. Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. This classic quip might be toeing the line of cliche but who cares…quip away.

Women are tired of having overpriced, “custom” products thrown at them from every angle. We’re not dumb. Gender has become such a fluid topic that products which differentiate on the basis of sex need to be backed by factual evidence, otherwise they’re just another guy telling me I want this pen because it’s pink. For hundreds of years, women have been singled out on the basis of suppression and supposed inferiority. Continuing to be unscientifically singled out by a writing utensil sure doesn’t help the wound heal. Now if only the lady razor market would catch on…