Some people think of feminism as a way to oppress the male of the species – and in fact that couldn’t be further from the truth. Most experts prefer to talk about equality than feminism, as it’s a much more inclusive term reflecting our objectives. Today we’ve got a great example of how that can work in reality and normal life – buying a gift for couples!
The idea here is to choose a task which is typically address with a stereotype – in this case it’s cooking. The kitchen has been associated as a female domain for a very long time. Yes, there are men who are great cooks and love to do so, but your average family tends to let the culinary responsibilities fall to mom.
So what is this gift we’re talking about? Well, it could relate to pretty much anything you might tend to associate with women, but it’s actually kitchen aprons. It’s something that instinctively you are more likely to buy for the ladies, but is perfectly useful for both genders and can also be unisex.
Take a look at the topbestseller.reviews website, and you’ll see that they’ve included a run down of the best novelty kitchen aprons. On the face of it, there’s more targeting women than men, but they’re actually keen to point out that being novelty items it’s fine for anyone as a gift. Several are also available in a both male and female flavor too – meaning you can be totally fair and reasonable too.
On the other hand, looking at the wider apron market, you can see from Amazon that they’re overwhelmingly aimed at women which does show that there’s a bias. We’re not suggesting Amazon are responsible for that bias of course – its a simple case of supply and demand. Or should we say perceived supply and demand.
The same can apply across a wide range of areas in life too – it’s not just the kitchen by any stretch of the imagination. It’s even easy to find examples of things working the other way too, as there’s no reason to avoid buying a coverall for that hands on female relative who likes to fix things herself.
Times are certainly changing and with that comes the opportunity to demonstrate that you’re not stuck in the past yourself. Gender stereotyping is slowly fading, and that’s got to be a welcome change for everyone involved. Employers get access to a wider choice of employees, and anyone can work towards doing the career they dreamed of as a child.
A simple thing like buying his and hers aprons for the kitchen can show that cooking can be a fun and inclusive activity for mom and pops and at the same time teach the kids an important lesson that everyone can muck in with the chores and have fun!