Why is sustainability perceived as uniquely feminine? Research has shown that sustainability is often gendered as feminine. When environmentally friendly behavior is gendered it perpetuates the eco-gender gap. This in turn, diverts the majority of eco-friendly campaigns towards women. This gap widens further when sustainability is gendered, because women are more powerful consumers, and women still oversee a larger share of household work.
second-hand products are not gender specific. So what happens when brands try to gender a gender neutral product to target a certain audience? Well, there are several instances where gender marketing has backfired. The gallery (below) shows a compilation of certain gender neutral products that companies tried to target to either men or women. Mansize tissues from Kleenex is a personal favorite.
So why has sustainability been gendered? One speculation is that women tend to be more altruistic and empathetic, and therefore those traits are associated with femininity. Altruism and empathy are traits that are also often associated with environmentally-friendly behavior, because the overall mission is to care and work towards preserving the planet.
The problem with gendering sustainability is its gender-neutral nature. Caring for the planet, in whatever capacity, is for the greater good. Most sustainable products like reusables and
Gender marketing fails with gender neutral products not only because it plays on stereotypes to market the product, but it also fails to market what the product does. You need a pen to write, not to feel more feminine. Therefore when it comes to gender-neutral topics like sustainability, companies should steer away from only marketing to women.
Kleenex has since rebranded to the name extra-large, perhaps because they were not big enough to wipe away Mansize tears.
The Go Girl Energy drink was created as a feminine alternative to energy drinks like Monster and Red Bull.
Kleenex has since rebranded to the name extra-large, perhaps because they were not big enough to wipe away Mansize tears.
Sell this toothbrush
How would you design your own ad for a specific audience? What would an ad for this eco-friendly toothbrush look like for different audiences? What colors, messaging, or even icons would you use? Download the blank photo and design a mockup for what you think a female, male, or neutral ad would look like. Look through the gallery to see some examples! You can use instagram or snapchat for simple design tools, and tag our instagram @sustainabilityisgay so we can repost your mockups! The challenge here is to see what you associate with each audience when it comes to marketing. Which one was easiest, which one was the hardest, why?
