I wear men’s cologne. While my mum thinks that’s weird, I know I’m not alone. Heaps of queer girls do. I’m sure some straight girls do too. I wear it because I think it smells nice. I can remember liking the way dad smelt when he applied fresh, peppery aftershave in the mornings when I was little, more than the floral perfumes my mum wore. So now that’s what I choose to spray on before work each day.
But it occurred to me recently how nuts it is that there are separate men’s and women’s fragrances. I mean, who made that call? I get it with clothes because we’re built differently, but my boobs certainly won’t be squashed by Bvlgari’s Pour Homme.
Smells don’t have a gender. Someone just decided to market them that way. It extends to deodorant, body lotions, shower gel, shaving cream and almost anything we apply to our bodies. Some are his and some are hers.
Girls get sugar and spice and all things nice, whereas boys get fresh, bold, earthy aromas to squirt onto their hairy caveman necks.
It’s really quite silly when you think about it. But no more silly than the traditional blue or pink packaging used to signify which gender these products are being sold to.
I can remember when the fresh, citrus smelling cologne “CK1” hit the shelves when I was a teenager. There was a big deal made out of the fact that it was the first fragrance intended for a man or a woman. My 14-year-old self lapped up the spin, loving the fact that I was now “allowed” to wear a relatively unfeminine smelling perfume.
But why can’t all colognes be like that? Why can’t they be like Freddo Frogs where you just choose the flavour you like? It’s not like boys aren’t allowed to eat the strawberry ones.
And when it comes to other ladies, I’m not attracted to any particular fragrance. Whether she’s wearing a girl’s one, a boy’s one, or just smells like Deep Heat, I’ll generally like the smell if I like the girl.
Some folks might argue that perfume is gender-based on the way men and women smell naturally. Sure women are sweet, but we also smell like ass after a decent work out. If you want to smell unnatural, why not smell however the hell you like.
INFO: You can follow Monique Schafter on Twitter @MoniqueSchafter
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