Erin S. sent in this screencapture of a set of ebay gift suggestions:
Erin says,
For her? A Roomba automatic vacuum! For him? A new sports car, of course!
Apparently Zunes are an androgynous gift, which is good to know.
Random, non-sociological story: My ex-stepdad once got my mom a mop for their anniversary. For her birthday he got her a live mouse trap–the type that doesn’t kill them but just keeps them contained so you can take them outside. She actually liked these gifts better than the time he got them “both” a rifle for their anniversary, as a “shared” gift. Ah, romance.
Thanks for the image, Erin!
NEW! (July ’10): Carissa sent in an image of an advertisement for an eBay Coupon Event that provides suggestions for different groups. There’s a clear assumption of who would be most interested in the different categories, with the other gender thrown in as an afterthought. But it’s also an example of how we insist on dividing things by gender, even when there’s absolutely no reason to do so. If you’re acknowledging that both men and women might like everything listed, why bother to categorize them by gender at all? Why not just have a list under “All Categories” and leave it at that?
Comments 7
Sarah TX — January 6, 2009
My friend James (who is, by my reckoning, a heterosexual man) loves the Roomba he got for Christmas. It seems to fit into the stereotypical "modern cave man" lifestyle so well. Also, it's sort of cute and anthropomorphic.
Esme — January 6, 2009
Those mousetraps that don't kill the mouse are awesome. When my father's house was infested when I was a kid, we got a bunch of them. It made the infestation a lot easier to deal with, since you not only didn't have to deal with corpses, but you also got the little "squee" moment of joy releasing them into the wild. Where wild = local park.
GENDERED GIFT SUGGESTIONS FROM EBAY — iRboto.com, not iRobot.com ;-) — January 11, 2009
[...] Erin S. sent in this screencapture of a set of ebay gift suggestions: Erin says, For her? A Roomba automatic vacuum! For him? A new sports car, of course! Apparently Zunes are an androgynous gift, which is good to know. Random, non-sociological story: My ex-stepdad once got my mom a mop for their anniversary. For her birthday he got her a live mouse trap–the type that doesn’t kill them but just keeps them contained so you can take them outside. She actually liked these gifts better tha Read more… [...]
Jennifer Christa — August 5, 2010
While my mom doesn't ask for, and my father doesn't buy for her, any cleaning supplies, she usually expresses her want of a clean house more-so than my dad. Obviously, women still do the brunt of domestic chores, so it might make sense that Mom would be joyous in receiving a gift that makes cleaning easier (in reference to the non-sociological example)... as sad as it is.
Damien — February 1, 2021
I myself have come across the fact that women do not welcome useful gifts like a set of dishes and so on. However, there are things that are useful to everyone. I do not know of a single person who would have a negative attitude towards modern cleaning gadgets. Here's a look at the description in this article - https://swaay.com/6-steam-mops-to-clean-your-tile-floor I myself would not refuse such a gift. I hate doing my own cleaning.
Damien — February 1, 2021
https://www.google.com./
Gaven Rank — November 25, 2021
Now it is quite difficult to open your own store, so it is better to sell products on a ready-made platform, where you only need to create your page and place there the goods for sale. In addition, it is easier to find a target customer who will be looking for your product. I myself sell through ebay, it is the most effective now. By the way, if you are interested, here is ebay customer service and you can find how to contact them. It helped me to clarify the details of product placement and so on. Good luck!