[Misc] Why is skincare feminized?
Like the title says, why is skincare so feminized? It seems to me that having good skin is something that girls mainly strive for, when I think that it should be both genders. Don't get me wrong I've seen tons of men and their results in this sub, but whenever you go into a store like target or something there isn't much skin care stuff that's specifically aimed towards guys in general. Commercials always show a woman tossing water onto her face for that beautiful skin lol. Is it generally because girls are more scrutinized for their looks than guys? can I get /r/SkincareAddiction's opinions?
Because men aren't defined and valued according to their physical appearance the way women are. It is far more important (according to our society's screwed up values) for a woman to be beautiful than for a man to be handsome.
In places like South Korea, this doesn't really exist. What people may consider homosexual, feminine, or metrosexual here (in the US) is absolutely normal over there.
That said SK also has its own societal issues, but the world's cultures really needs to get over masculinity, femininity, or other bullshit and just accept people for who they are.
yeah I'm actually korean, but I'd say some stuff is still feminized. My dad wears masks all the time lol but all in all yeah korean men especially pop stars go through plastic surgery and wear light makeup and stuff. It does good for the country though, so many awesome beauty products from korea that are targeted for everyone!
So THAT's why kpop stars are so beautiful! I always wondered.
oh hell yeah, south korea is pretty much the king of plastic surgery. I kid you not, every kpop star you see has had at least some kind of job done on them.
I don't agree with this entirely. I live in South Korea, and yes (some) males wear bb creams but there is still a huge gap between beauty expectations for men and women. I find South Korea more of a patriarchy than the U.S., actually.
Because men aren't defined and valued according to their physical appearance the way women are. It is far more important (according to our society's screwed up values) for a woman to be beautiful than for a man to be handsome.
This is exactly what i was going to say. It all comes down to deeply engrained sexism in the end.
there's a really interesting study I read about the top qualities that men and women seek for in partners. Basically they gave people a limited number of imaginary points and asked what traits they would spend the points on. The top 3 traits wanted by women in men were something like 1. wealth 2. social status 3. attractiveness and the top 3 wanted by men for women were 1. attractiveness 2. social grace 3. social status.
We're all shallow :)
Dang it, I rank better in the men's category. Everyone says I'm "intimidating" which can detract from social grace. (Not looking for help, readers.)
Definitely agree with this. However I think marketing has a huge impact as well. Modern skincare seems to be an industry created specifically for women (because our value lies in how pretty we are or aren't :P) and products marketed toward women are very difficult to market toward men. This is also why we have idiotic diet soda campaigns with slogans like "not for women."
Marketing is a weird beast...I often wonder if I would have any fucks to give to my skin if it weren't for decades of being marketed to. It is basically a lot of "you need this because we say you do"
I don't even get why they differentiate between men's and women's skincare in the first place, especially if the only difference among, say, face moisturisers is the scent (or a lack of it).
I do understand that it's all about marketing and targeting different types of customers but that doesn't mean I like the way things are.
I'm pretty sure skincare is gendered more because of how hormones can affect a person's skin condition. My gender-conscious brain doesn't like this, but let's just say we have men (testosterone) and women (estrogen): men generally have thicker and oilier skin than women do, while women's skin is generally thinner and more prone to injury/infection. Gendered skin care exists because, I suppose, it's just easier to market and divide skin care based on what makes the most sense with a person's hormones/the general issues and needs that arise because of them.
(I am not trans myself, but I have read quite a few things about trans skin care because of trans friends. Hormone replacement therapy basically makes you go through second puberty, and especially FtM transitions are tough because of the drastic skin changes due to hormones.)
Very good point! I agree that marketing is definitely a different case from actual product purpose. Thanks also for your input on transitioning - I shouldn't be speaking about trans experiences, really, so I really appreciate you sharing/clarifying!
I used to work in a drugstore where my job was basically to pester people about buying cosmetics. Your post reminded me that we used to have an entire aisle for "women's" skin care products, and about one shelf hidden in the middle of the shaving supplies for "men's." The imbalance there is definitely weird.
I think you might be on to something.
I went from being able to use the Red box Stridex pads daily to that drying my skin out if I use them too much and sometimes just needing moisturizer in general where I never needed it before.
I would guess, yes, partly because girls and women do face heavier scrutiny over their looks. Another factor is that at some point in relatively recent history, the men of the early to mid 1960s would be considered metrosexual now, men caring about how they looked took on connotations of effeminacy and possibly - gasp! - homosexuality. I think that's breaking down somewhat, but it's still there.
It's ridiculous, really. Both genders have skin that needs to be protected from the environment, especially UV damage. Both genders are susceptible to skin conditions that can be dangerous, unsightly, or painful - I'm not prone to pimples, but just the few I've had have given me sympathy for the physical discomfort those with serious cystic acne must feel.
I dont know and it drives me crazy because my fiance refuses to wear freaking sunscreen because he wants to age like a man or some shit. I tried to explain other benefits and he just doesn't care
"If you use sunscreen you'll age like a man because you don't get cancer."
"If you die of cancer how can I enjoy all that manliness." :P
Ugh that's so bad! Just slather it on him in his sleep lol
Ugh I wish. He's got blackheads too which don't bother me that much but I wish he could take 60 seconds a day to use a bha and sunscreen ya know?
Taking care of your body, period, is feminized. The idea that women are scrutinized for their looks more than men certainly explains the skincare part, but this problem extends to other areas as well.
Unless it's pumping iron, anything related to caring for your body is feminized as hell. Even something as simple as eating healthier ("Salad, eh? I see the wife's on a diet.") or moisturizing ("Wow, soft hands. Spend the night with Pamela Handerson?") is feminized.
It feels like it could almost be related to that stereotype of the man sitting in front of the TV with his soiled tank top flashing unkempt armpits and an unchecked beer belly while the parallel female stereotype vacuums under his feet in her manicured hair and high heels.
TL;DR it's a gross gendered stereotype and someone needs to stop leaving these soap boxes on the floor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/beauty-industry-women_n_5127078.html
That link may be of interest, it's a historical look-back at how the beauty industry has created certain "standards" that modern women must live up to.
Here's a decent thesis about this topic: http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/1046/FooS.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
So it's my understanding that women have always changed their body and physical appearance to reflect cultural ideals-- think about Rubenesque, heroin-chic, the athletic and thin women of today. Men are influenced by culture as well-- ex: hipster attire, beards, etc that are popular today, fashion trends of the decades obviously. But I think men are allowed a little more freedom in what their personal style, habits and appearance may be. These days, if women aren't a blond beauty with perfectly curled hair and a outfit straight from Pinterest... they're seen as less than "perfect." Thinking about modern advertising, men are "targeted" in just a few ways-- Axe body washes & deodorants, maybe Gillette razors. But women are targeted through commercials selling tampons, hair dye, liposuction, weight watchers, personal styling/clothing services, makeup, shampoo/conditioner, plastic surgery... it's endless. Women are innundated with messages of "HEY! LOOK! With this product, you can improve yourself!" We think it's normal, and maybe we even buy into it. And then we buy the products. We become the target audience, and they keep sending that message, and we keep buying. They aren't going to market to an audience that isn't paying attention. Why focus on self-care, health and well-being for everyone (and tackle the gender norms that say men shouldn't care too much about grooming), when it's much easier to exploit feelings of inferiority and the desire to be perfect?
I agree, more men should be featured in ads and such, just to get more men into skincare! It matters for them too! But as far as packaging, I think skincare should be more gender neutral. I mean, we really don't want fragrances or anything in our skincare products so that wouldn't even be a factor.
There are a lot of reasons already posted that I completely agree with, but another smaller explanation is in the skin of men and women. It is actually different, women actually have collagen in the skin that lays more parallel to itself and men have collagen that crisscrosses. This difference means that men's skin is tougher and not as stretchy as women's skin. Their skin also tends to be less sensitive in general, and this might add to the idea that skincare is not as important for men. It appears as though they just don't have to worry about skin care because their skin is tough and doesn't need any help, which is not true at all.
I was recently talking to my husband about one factor, which is makeup use. Although there are better and worse products, I think it's safe to say that for most people, wearing makeup regularly is likely to mess with your skin. Whether it's just needing to cleanse more harshly to remove makeup, or the products themselves, they tend to cause breakouts and sensitivity. And, since many people use makeup to cover blemishes, it's a sort of vicious cycle where the worse your skin gets, the more you're tempted to wear makeup.
Since most men don't wear makeup, their skin is more likely to stay fairly balanced and not react to a lot of products on their skin. That, plus hormone issues and social issues others mentioned, is probably a reason there is less male-oriented skincare.
I respectfully disagree. Unless one sleeps in their makeup often or is allergic to a specific ingredient, makeup doesn't cause or perpetuate the acne cycle for the vast majority of people. I use the same cleanse/tone/treat (some days)/moisturize routine whether or not I wear makeup, and have gone weeks with or without makeup without changes to my skin. High testosterone is often the culprit of acne, as it was in my case. It's an old wives tale, a stereotype, that makeup causes acne.
Hm. It might also then be that "unless you are allergic to an ingredient", or maybe more generally, are sensitive to ingredients. I admit I haven't thoroughly vetted all the ingredients in my makeup, but I do generally find I have worse acne if I've been wearing makeup a lot compared to when I go a while without makeup, although that's anecdotal. I can see where you're coming from, though. I suppose I am partially assuming based on personal experience and old wives' tales so I might well be mistaken! :)
It's unfair that women are expected to look better, but I think it's partially because women look worse with wrinkles than men do. Obviously, both should try and look their best but a man with a few lines doesn't look nearly as bad and it can kind of add to a rugged look sometimes. It's sort of like asking why weight lifting is masculinized. Each gender has their own aesthetic they are striving for and that's just going to vary somewhat.
That first set of pictures are skewed anyway, they are definitely not on a level when it comes to the point that someone is scrabbling to make to shore up their ego and defend their reasoning to treat people as shittily as possible. The post undermines itself.
I hope you cease with the Pill and recover from it soon, mate.
Each new penis removes some of the quality and air of innocence that men desire, and the less emotionally attached she is to the owner of that penis, the more innocence is removed
Hahaha
You are honestly using a post with this garbage in it as an explanation to OP's question. lol.
Vomit. There is so much wrong with that post you linked I don't know where to start..not everyone looks for someone who would be a good parent, like those who never want kids (me). Also those photos are cartoons. People also don't have to consider oral sex on the same level as intercourse or include it in their partner count if that's their belief. Hell I don't even know my partner count anymore. It's almost like different people want different things.
Each new penis, though.
I can't stop laughing at that line, even just standalone
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