A bestselling book once proclaimed, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. A tidy dichotomy, but unfortunately one that doesn’t apply so well today (if it ever did).
It’s crucial to recognize that the dual dichotomies of male vs female and men vs women are not the same. Here is where biology and psychology part ways: We designate a person as male or female depending upon the sex chromosomes they carry and how these direct the formation of their genitalia and some hormones.
In contrast, the experience of being a man or a woman is much more fluid; cultural concepts of what it means to be one or the other (or something in between) determine how an individual feels, acts, and consumes.
There’s no doubt that gender identity is a crucial component of a consumer’s self-concept. People often conform to their culture’s expectations about how those of their gender should act, dress, or speak; we call these sets of expectations sex roles. Thus, the state of being a man or a woman holds a much broader meaning, and our definitions of what it means to one or the other change radically across time and across cultures.
Today we’re witnessing a particularly volatile shakeup, as our culture grapples with changing definitions. At least in some parts of our society, it’s increasingly commonplace for a biologically born man to “act feminine” by wearing skirts and make-up, or for a biologically born woman to “act masculine” as she dons overalls and construction boots. And that’s not to mention the legions of people who literally change their biological identity via operations and hormone injections.
In this changing world, marketers adhere to the “old school” male vs. female dichotomy at their peril. Just what does it mean to be male, female, agender, cis, feminine-of-center, FtM, genderqueer, third gender, or any one of numerous terms that vie today to replace the man/woman dichotomy of old? Marketers need to closely follow this conversation to be sure their messages and products sync with these evolving definitions.
This evolution is most pronounced among younger people. Although 13% of the U.S. population as a whole identifies as non-heterosexual, a whopping 31% of Gen Z people do. An oft-cited study by Wunderman Thompson reported that 82 percent of Gen Zers think that “gender doesn’t define a person as much as it used to,” and 56 percent say they know someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns (like “they,” “them” and “ze”).
When brands loosen up their traditional market definitions of gender, they may encounter exciting new opportunities. Products and services that used to be solely the province of one gender may now be fair game for others as well. For example, Old Spice has long been known as the brand Dad keeps in his medicine cabinet, but young women who like the scent and the relatively low price are tuning into the deodorant as well. This resurgence is a bit ironic, because the first product the company introduced in 1937 was a women’s fragrance.
The old male/female dichotomy is collapsing all around us as so-called “gender binarism” starts to morph into a more fluid definition of gender roles. More and more people instead are becoming “gender benders” who delight in bending traditional sex roles. Dramatic changes in sex roles as the traditional male/female dichotomy disintegrates create the potential for huge new markets as we see emerging movements including androgyny, the growing third-gender and L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual and anyone else) population, and the increasing demand for “modest fashion.”
Most social scientists have always viewed sexuality as a continuum rather than a dichotomy. Masculinity and femininity are social constructions that vary across cultures and historical periods. However, in Western culture we seem to have reached a watershed moment when people question even the anchor points of this continuum.
The cage that separates men and women has never been more fragile. Don’t get left behind as this gender revolution picks up speed.
Michael Solomon is a Global Consumer Behaviour Expert and the author of The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization, published by Kogan Page priced £14.99
