Women wearing suits and vests in the office have become common. But have you seen any man coming to a meeting wearing earrings? Probably not. This difference became the center of new research by Maren Hoff, assistant professor at Harvard Business School. When Hoffa started seeing women in suits and vests in the office, he bought some himself. But as a marketing scholar, a question arose in his mind – in which direction is this change taking place? He has given the answer to this in ‘Journal of Consumer Research’ – Men are changing very less as compared to women. Maren’s research team analyzed the names of one lakh children in America between 1880 and 2022. Found that an average of 310 male names became gender-fluid every year. That is, the number of girls who adopted male names, while the number of men who adopted female names, was only 207. Blake is a good example of this. In 1883 it was a name only for boys. Girls started adopting it in the 1960s. By 1981 it became both. The team examined more than 2 lakh product images from fashion retailer Farfetch with an image-recognition model. The result was clear – 7% of women’s clothes were considered men’s by AI, while only 5.3% of men’s clothes were considered women’s. This means that there is more masculine influence in women’s fashion, but the opposite is decreasing. The reason for this is simple – masculinity is considered a symbol of strength in the society. For women, male style is less risky, but it makes them look professional and strong. Feminine styles for men are still considered socially risqué. “This trend is in the name of inclusivity, but in reality it perpetuates old power dynamics,” says Hoff. Interestingly, 36% of American consumers have purchased clothing outside of traditional gender categories. Brands like Nordstrom, Marc Jacobs and Gucci have launched gender-fluid collections. But Maren’s research says that as long as this change is one-sided, equality is far from over. The real change will come when men can also wear earrings without hesitation. Unisex is just one part of gender-fluid, its four categories in the fashion industry There are four different concepts in the fashion world that are often confused as one: Gender-fluid – subtly and permanently breaks down gender boundaries, such as pearl necklaces for men. Gender-bending – Wearing clothes of the opposite gender, but this is temporary. Unisex – neither masculine, nor feminine – like an oversized hoodie. Androgyny – A mix of both in one look, like half suit, half dress.
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Gender differences are disappearing, but only women are changing: 36% of American consumers have bought clothes outside traditional gender categories
