Men's items as "unisex"

[ferretface]

Just that really. Surprises me that this is still a thing in 2020 (well maybe it doesn't)

I did the London Marathon virtual earlier this month and everyone is receiving their t shirt and medal - cue a lot of confused women asking why they have been sent an item that is clearly labelled men's and being told in response "oh they're unisex". No, designed for an average male body is not unisex, unisex would be an item where the fit is adapted to accommodate both average male and female bodies as much as it can, not an item designed for men.

Would love to see the reaction if men were given clothing or equipment (bike saddles etc) specifically designed for women and told oh it's fine, it's unisex, we just made sure you got the larger size range.

What do people do to call this out? I guess I'll email them once they're no longer swamped by enquiries about where people's medals etc are but their comms is pretty shocking so I doubt I'll get much of a response. Maybe the kit sponsor (new balance) would be a good port of call as imagine they don't like getting caught up in complaints.

On my last pre-Covid work trip, my flight home (last of the day) was cancelled. The airline was great about it and dispatched me to an airport hotel for the night with an ‘overnight’ pack as I’d been on a day trip. It contained bottled water, a t-shirt, and toiletries for which I was very grateful. The t-shirt was man-sized but for sleeping it was exactly what I needed.

The toiletry offering, however, consisted of shampoo, shower gel, a comb, and a disposable razor with a little tube of shaving cream.

The inclusion of the shaving kit but not conditioner, a make-up wipe, and a couple of tampons says a lot about how the airline sees its business passengers. I know most are still male, but I wish they could have offerend me a ‘female’ overnight pack in that situation. It would have been so thoughtful, and guaranteed my asking for work flights to be booked with them whenever possible in future.