News

This 'For Women' Product Will Make You Groan

by Emma Cueto

Attention everyone! One of the world's greatest problems has just been solved! At long last, Skullcandy headphones just for women have arrived, as detailed by Popular Mechanics reporter Davey Alba, who was among the first to check out the product. It is surely a great day for everyone. For too long we women have been unable to fully participate in the Skullcandy headphone experience, since our ears are too delicate to ever properly accommodate those masculine, manly, macho, not-at-all-gender-neutral devices. I have never once in my life looked at a pair of Skullcandy headphones and felt that they were something that could ever be for me. And in fact, I have felt marginalized and excluded by their insistence on producing headphones that are clearly meant for the unique and totally different shape of men's ears. Thank goodness we now have some flowery headphones to fix all of those problems.

The press release claims that the headphones are "finely tuned and engineered specifically" for women and feature "unique adjustments in clamping pressure, headband size and shape as well as form-fitting, female-specific ear gels, designed to deliver maximum acoustic performance while aiding in stability and providing long-term comfort." If they create a better listening experience for the specific needs of female ears (who knew there were such needs?) then great. But do we really need the flowers to make them girl-specific?

Has it somehow escaped everyone's notice that women have already been wearing regular, non-floral Skullcandy headphones for...ever? Honestly, do they just not collect demographic info on their customers, because that seems stupid. And if they want to attract more female customers, I can think of about 8 million ways to do it that don't involve floral patterns. Marketing to women really can be more sophisticated than that.

This whole thing calls to mind those awful "Pens for Her" that BIC unveiled last year, which were deservingly mocked all up and down the Internet. At some point companies should maybe start realizing that women don't need their own special everything. It's pretty audacious of us, but women actually feel entitled to use products that are for "people" and not women in particular.

The headphones are due to hit the shelves in March and will probably be sold between $30-100. CAN'T WAIT!

Image: Skullcandy