Pointlessly gendered products

[Gingerkittykat]

I use a CPAP machine and my mask split so I looked online for a spare part because it's easier than going to the hospital.

I found a whole sleep apnea machine for her which is a nice white colour with a pretty pink light and flowers, as opposed to the black one. Of course the "male" product is the default or regular machine.

You can also buy a mask for her which is absolutely identical in design but it says it is has elegant pink straps to support your chosen hairstyle. It does say it is slightly smaller than the male mask but since you can choose your size anyway this is irrelevant.

At least the price is the same and there is no pink tax.

How would you solve something like the seatbelt issue?

Gosh, we put a man on the moon, I’m pretty sure some boffin out there could figure it out if sufficiently incentivised.

Lady pens.....top lady reviews all an absolute must-read!

www.amazon.co.uk/BIC-Her-Medium-Ballpoint-Pen/product-reviews/B004FTGJUW?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

All of these things!!! I have found my people!

There was another advert recently I think it was by Decathlon? Could be wrong. I'll try and find it and basically it said they stocked mens running and ladies jogging clothes and the uproar they got from that. Within hours it was changed

How would you solve something like the seatbelt issue?

Most front seatbelts are adjustable height - some cars have sufficient vertical range to fit a short person well, others don't.

OTOH, some products it's vital to have a choice of 'gender' ...isn't it funny how we all know exactly what 'Male' and 'female' mean?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/compression-adapting-female-coupler-15mm-x/93992

Vs

https://www.screwfix.com/p/compression-adapting-male-coupler-15mm-x/69358

Last time I took the kids to our local fire station open day, one could buy yellow firefighter hats.... or pink

All firefighter hats are yellow or white, right? Why bloody pink?!

"How would you solve something like the seatbelt issue? Obviously an issue but surely unless you tailor every seatbelt to each driver a large number of the population will be disadvantaged."

You tailor it to the average PERSON rather than the average man or get ones that work for a bigger range of people.

Someone on one of our local freecycle groups was asking recently for a "girl's" carry-cot for her newborn!

You tailor it to the average PERSON

And fall between the two?

Does not the 'average' person have less than two legs, one breast and one testicle?

Why do I need to have a pink razor?

I buy these. Is orange a men's colour?
I also sometimes get some dark blue ones (shock!) from either Morrisons or Aldi, I can't remember.
Nobody needs to buy pink razors, the shops don't force you to buy them.

What's the seatbelt issue?

I recently bought a hi vis running vest, and in addition to the usual yellow one, you could get this.
To be fair to Karrimor and Sports Direct, it wasn't listed as "ladies", just on the shelf next to the yellow one.

The point about pink razors was not to supply a demand for a colour preference. It was to mark the 'Lady' razor out as special and imply, without actually saying, that the blade was specially formulated for the purpose, therefore more expensive.

It was only when consumer journalists had the razors tested that it was admitted the blades were exactly the same.

What's the seatbelt issue?

If you're short, the top connection can be too high so the belt lies against your neck rather than on the shoulder. It's not an insuperable problem (for the front seat at any rate) as some car models do have a large enough range of adjustment to work for short and tall people. But others don't - I can't see any structural reason on the cars we've got why they couldn't have made the adjuster go lower. (Unfortunately none of the cars which had sufficiently adjustable belts fitted our other criteria re size etc. )

Thanks Errol, I hadn't heard of that.
The cars I've had have always had adjustments, and I'm not short so didn't notice.
I think cars have got better. In the 80s my mum (who is 5 foot) used to drive around sat on a cushion because she couldn't see over the steering wheel, but seats generally have built in height adjusters now.

The cars I've had have always had adjustments, and I'm not short so didn't notice.

This is part of living in a world designed for and too much by men. Most men and quite a lot of women are oblivious to size related issues. Cars are generally somewhat better now, some are good - but not all are good enough.