Abstract

Marketers have long been aware that what we consume shapes our sense of who we are, and that a person’s gender and sexuality associations comprise important parts of this identification. Having long treated biological sex as a key demographic variable to apply in market segmentation, marketers also play a major role in the gendering of consumption practices. In particular, activities positioning products and services for target segments – especially advertising – contribute to creating both positive and negative gender and sexuality stereotypes, and sometimes exacerbate sex differences regarding product usage and associations in spurious ways (e.g., creating Bic pens “for women”).