Unisex Fragrance: Re-Defining Gender Based Perfume
Gender Based Fragrance May be a Thing of the Past
The scent that you choose no longer needs to be based on whether you are male or female. The ultimate new scents are unisex colognes and perfumes. Traditional gender lines between men and women are becoming increasingly blurred so there really is no longer a need to classify fragrance by one's gender.
A soft baby powder cologne may be the more appropriate scent for a sensitive man while a rustic woody scent may more appropriately fit today's active woman much more than it would a metro male personality. There are feminine men and masculine women and also many individuals who's identities cross over into the rigid definitions and guidelines set out to describe members of the opposite sex. Personalities are not created from one mold so logically fragrance should be chosen simply because that scent fits an individual's attitude, lifestyle, personality, or mood. A Fragrance Can be Used to Accent Either Gender
There is no longer a clear definition of where the role of femininity and masculinity emerge. The boundaries have obviously changed with time so that they now overlap and intertwine to redefine who we are. This advancement in categorizing gender roles has effectively also changed our impressions of gender strength and individuality which is how we have in the past selected our fragrances.
Our more liberal stance on gender identification has initiated a distinct change in how we wear scents to accent our personality and sensuality. "As the social distance between men and women diminishes, the gender boundaries in perfume become more blurred.", as stated by Marcello Aspira. A trained sociologist who concentrated his graduate thesis on the rise in usage of same gender perfumes. This aptly explains the reasoning as to why same sex fragrances work. It is simply because our choices in the scents that we use to identify ourselves have always been about personality and individuality. Flowery scents used to be worn to accent a woman's femininity. While musk and woody scents were fragrances used almost exclusively to identify with a masculine male personality. Today a more feminine male has his choice in fragrances and is much more likely to choose a scent which he more readily identifies himself with. The modern working woman can now choose a musk or pine scent to identify with her more aggressive role, yet wear a flowery scent in the evening, in order to better accent the soft romantic side of her personality. Does Our Role in Society Define Femininity or Masculinity?
Our gender identification is just one of the many factors that we subconsciously use when we are selecting our favorite scents. More accurately it is the many faucets of our personality which cause us to be drawn to a fragrance that will accent and display our individuality to the world around us.
Our changing roles in society brought about a need for unisex fashion and now for unisex scents as well. Perfumers now realize the ever changing roles and ideals of our society and are creating more gender neutral fragrances to suit the changing needs of consumers. It is a slow process at changing old ideals. Ideally a scent should not have a sexual gender specific label. Fragrance is meant to be selected by personality, season, or mood so it is simply logic that gender friendly perfumes and colognes should be the norm today. As Our Roles in Society Change so Does our Concept of Scent
Man first discovered the power of using scents somewhere around 1000 BC. These early fragrances were generally used for religious ceremonies where the burning of plant or tree gums and resins would be used to create a desired atmosphere.
These early scented ointments and oils were to develop into some of man's first choices in personal fragrances. These early fragrant concoctions were generally used for medicinal purposes or to hide unpleasant body aromas. As these early scents became more sophisticated so did the variety and use of these fragrances increase as well. Perfumes soon moved to being used as a popular option to enhance one's physical appearance and persona. From Traditional Male to the Feminization of Modern Men 
Anthropologist Constance Classen discovered in the early 19th century that there appeared to be a "process of feminization in the culture of smell".
As men became identified as the bread winners or "as being men" and women recognized as soft and feminine creatures or "as women" perfume became more closely associated with femininity and its many facets. Early fragrance shifted from out of the hygiene, religious, and medicinal product line into gender specific scents used simply for pleasure. Early perfumes were recognized as a feminine scent or a masculine one and used by this definition as a social beauty enhancer. The first perfumes belonged almost exclusively to the world of women although men of royal heritage or nobility also participated in its wearing. This being logical as the common man had much more important things to spend his efforts and income on than fragrance. Attitudes have certainly changed to meet the requirements of our more demanding modern world. Today a man is just as likely to wear fragrance as is a woman. Our Changing Roles Created a Need for Unisex Scents
So here we are in our modern world and the social definitions of male and female roles are continuing to change. Women are no longer staying home and having babies. Dad may now be the one who chooses to stay home to look after the children while mom is the professional in the family.
In increasing numbers women are in the work force and entering into many of the stereotypical male related work fields. Women are no longer just wives and mothers spending their days caring for the needs of their husband and children. Men are now nurses and women are doctors. Men and women work side by side in the construction industry as well as in big business. The female - male gender roles are merging together as they never could have in the past. Gender differences are becoming less noticeable and as this occurs our choices in the perfumes which we use to accent our identity also change. Flowery scents are no longer used to solely classify femininity just as a heavy pine scent is no longer worn to identify the male sex. A more feminine male is just as likely to choose either fragrance to identify himself just as a female now might choose a musk to identify with her more aggressive demeanor. Be Your Own Style of Beautiful
Perfume has stepped into the future. Fragrance is no longer solely used to classify female or male gender but instead has advanced into the recognition that a unisex scent is able to accent the characteristics of any man or woman who chooses to wears it.
Perfume has transformed itself into the modern age and become as individual as the people who select it. This fragrance review is based on research and my own personal opinion on what I uncovered within that research. It is my belief that fragrance is a personal choice and one which should never be hindered by preconceived ideals. |
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