Poll: Do you think the classification of fragrances by gender is outdated and unnecessary?
Does this classification have a negative impact on the development of innovative fragrances in the perfume industry?
We're using this poll to put our new polling tool through its paces. We want to see how fast and user friendly it really is, and your feedback will help us a lot!
Last updated 04/29/2024 - 11:54 AM
56 Comments
Parfumo
Regarding the question, no the classification is not outdated - it provides a very useful criterion for a fragrance. The perfume houses classify many if not all their fragrances as unisex. They are probably doing that because they are 1) lazy, 2) being PC, 3) trying to make a cash grab without caring if customers are disappointed.
Making such a classification does not prevent anyone from testing, purchasing or wearing any scent they like. However, it can be useful for the large number of people who generally go according to traditional classifications. This site proves it to some extent. For example, the first time I smelled and wore Cuoium, I thought it's ridiculous to classify it as unisex - it's clearly a masculine fragrance. If you go to its listing here, you'll see that 92% of the people who own it are male. A true unisex fragrance should be split at least around 60%-40%, if not 50%-50%.
As far as the question goes - While I believe every fragrance is unisex, imo 'masculine' and 'feminine' can be useful as short-hand descriptors. However, they shouldn't dictate who can wear what.
There is no way I could be considered anything but a progressive, personally and I believe I have a good grasp and understanding of the issue of gender equality, but defining a gender classification in fragrance as an old trope and outdated goes a bit too far. I feel the same way about old versus young. For me, it is very interesting and useful to see how others have categorized fragrances. This should not be a political or equality issue at all! And I feel that people who demand that these terms be eliminated here are possibly no better than religious people who demand everyone conform to their beliefs. Perhaps we could find better terms.
It’s the same with clothes. Women have taken a lot from men, for example trousers, but will men wear a skirt?
No!...because this is non-perception at the reflex level.
It would be much more objective if voting was carried out separately for male and female audiences.
I do believe though that with these ideas in mind it makes it easier to filter for certain scents because of how we perceive certain families to be strictly feminine or masculine. Shopping wise it's quite useful, perhaps moreso for brands trying to sell their products as well.
Really it's just about what you want to wear. I'm a strong believer in not limiting yourself to binaries. You'll never know what you'll miss if you don't get a little silly with it.
If it aint broken don't fix it. The current system is fine for me personally,
It's a easy way to quickly filter out fragrances by gender and have to be specified as such.
however fragrance notes on it's self are genderless but a composition made by a perfumer is a concept that is either targeted at Male, Female or can be Unisex but always is still subjective because of peoples personal tastes and preferences.
What we see nowadays is that the whole concept of that is being clouded by big companies that misuse the word unisex all the time just to sell the same fragrance to a bigger audience and make more profit. Removing a label just bring more money to the tabel
We already live in a world where the woke
are normalizing abstract things that are considered the new normal now.
maybe I'm old fashioned or please wake me up because im still sleeping...
Trends change all the time - Jicky, Shalimar and Cabochard were once considered the height of femininity. Smelling them today, they have more in common with perfumes marketed to men than women! Many gourmands marketed towards men are just as sweet as, if not sweeter than, gourmands marketed towards women.
Why not just do away with the labels entirely and let people decide for themselves?
At the end of the day, try any fragrance you want regardless of who it says it's marketed to, you might finding something new you like.
Be curious and open minded, and you'll be rewarded.
Signifiers are arbitrary, but signifiers are useful. I just wish we commonly used better ones.
I am sure this poolling tool has absolutely nothing to do with probing the wokenes factor of the readers, right?
:-)
As the definition of gender can be anything, it defines nothing so - parfumers should "gender" their scents any which way it supports their misguided view of equality and inclusion. And profit.
Outdated and unnecessary?
Show up for a date smelling like a man I had a 2-hour business meeting today - you will be dancing the evening alone.
Fragrantica has masculine-feminine rating based on reader perception so why the fear, Parfumo?
I think this slider works great and polls can be fun.
Keep up the good work!
Would also be nice to have a slider like this to rate masculinity/femininity of fragrances, instead of the only 3 choices we now have: male, female or both.
I only would’ve liked the opportunity to rate a fragrance 30/70 for example. Now it’s only 0/100, 50/50 or 100/0 😄
That's kind of a good idea. This wold help some people, maybe not universally.
**** Also, I'm on mobile. Since the poll tool is a slide effect, it scrolls my screen trying to use it.
(both labelled as unisex fragrance), since the 1800's/1700's, --- to be feminine( ..or beta leaning) , and indeed it has famously be worn by men-presidents, and there scent profile are 'assigned' as masculine (citrus/neroli base colognes.)
Aw, Shalimar.
Scent is a huge thing within humans, on a subconscious level, and everything happens in a fraction of a second.
It's virtually impossible for a non-biased human to claim that Aramis doesn't smell like a Man, and Black Opium like a Woman.
Some things snell masculine, because that's a real thing. Some things smell feminine because that's a real thing. Some things are on the sliding scale somewhere.