Today – benefits of gender neutrality
Benefits of gender neutrality
We’re steadily moving towards a society where gender is becoming less and less important, and overall, that’s a positive and progressive thing. This is a time of transition, though, and not every aspect of gender neutrality is naturally appealing to everyone. It’s understandable if you need a little time to adjust to the idea of unisex bathrooms, for example.
But some aspects of gender neutrality are just plain awesome and can be appreciated by pretty much everyone. Like these four.
#1. Gender neutral baby clothing
Anyone who has ever tried to wrestle an infant into a frilly dress or suspenders and bowtie will understand why unisex baby clothes are becoming an essential part of every baby’s wardrobe. Gender neutral baby clothing is pared down and fashion-forward compared to the gendered pieces of yesteryears, many of which are frankly hideous. This increase in unisex baby clothing gives parents an effortless way to have some pretty stylish-looking kiddos, and it gives everyone else an easy way to buy great gifts for expecting parents.
Perhaps more importantly, unisex baby clothes set children up for a life where their choices, interests, opinions and loves aren’t influenced or dictated by their gender, freeing them up to express themselves as they choose and be who they truly are, regardless of what outdated societal norms may say. It’s just a bonus that these clothes make babies look so cool.
#2. Gender-inclusive language
Look, when it comes to gendered terms like fireman and policeman, not only are they woefully outdated, they also sound stupid. They do! Say policeman out loud right now. Say, fisherman. Say, stewardess. Now stop saying all those things. When people use gendered terms, they either sound like you’re three years old or 103 years old, there’s no in-between. The move towards inclusive language and phrasing that strips gender identifiers or biased pronouns can’t come fast enough. Here’s to sounding smarter without actually being smarter!
#3. Fair hair prices for all – just one of many awesome cost benefits of gender neutrality
For too long, women have been paying $50+ for a haircut while men can saunter into the same salon expecting to pay a third of that. Even if a woman has a short pixie cut and a man has shoulder-length hair, they typically pay the price associated with their gender, not with the length of their hair or the complexity of the cut.
This is finally beginning to change, with salons in cities like Edmonton and Chicago moving to a gender-neutral pricing model that charges based on length of hair and difficulty of style. Not only is this beneficial to women, who have been paying a premium at salons since ageing out of the child’s cut-price, but it also helps hair stylists. Popular men’s cuts like fades and layered shags are difficult and time-consuming, eating up way more time and effort than that $12 men’s cut charge plus tip will ever cover.
Further, while men may not initially believe this pricing model benefits them, it really does. Those men who are getting simple cuts will still get to pay a low price, and anyone getting a complicated cut will pay a little more and help to ensure their stylist spends as much time as necessary to get it right.
#4. Benefits of gender neutrality? How about Gender-neutral beauty brands
Is it not a given that men, women, and anyone who identifies as anything in between just want to feel good and look good? It is. It’s a given. So why is it that the average drug store has multiple aisles dedicated to women’s skincare, haircare and makeup while men get a selection of ten products beside the shaving cream, all of which smell strongly of menthol?
Put down the Power Mint Moisturizer, fellas, and start looking into the gender neutral beauty brands popping up. Everything from cleansers, moisturizers and serums to cosmetics are now being designed and packaged for consumers of any gender. Now anyone can have a five-step skin-perfecting routine, expertly cover up a blemish, or contour a to-die-for set of cheekbones without having a clutter of pink packages on the counter. The future is gender-neutral, and the future is a lot better looking because of it.
The gender neutrality reality
Gender neutrality is important for all the opportunity it opens to everyone, and for the equity, it represents to people of all binary and nonbinary genders across the globe. That’s the leading motivation behind the move towards a less gendered future. But that doesn’t mean gender neutrality doesn’t come with some fringe benefits we can all get on board with. So, go ahead and show off your fairly priced haircut and glowing skin while cooing over stylishly unisex-clothed babies. It’s all progress.
Over to you for more benefits of gender neutrality
Have these benefits of gender neutrality made you think or surprised you? I do hope they have. What benefits of gender neutrality can you think of?
4 benefits of gender neutrality is a featured post – you might also like my post on should toys be gender specific
