Does Gender Really Matter for Fragrances ?

We have all seen and heard it before. People often say that something smells either masculine or feminine, and I understand where this comes from. I felt like tackling this issue, but before I do, I must state that this is only an opinion People are free to disagree with me. I am simply trying to start a conversation.

In the artificial universe of YouTube land and Facebook groups, there stands a man. The man violently beats his hairy chest with a bellowing cry about how alpha he is, complete with a tirade about how only old school fragrances are masculine, and claiming that anyone who wears modern stuff is a “soy boy”. He steadfastly claims this at any given opportunity.

He has let himself be misguided by a need to feel masculine in front of others. Whenever you are viewing people as lesser than you because of a simple smell, then you probably need to take a step back and look at yourself. The most masculine things you can do is to be kind and honorable.

This is a common trend that I have seen, and it’s simply an example and not directed at anyone in particular. It just begs the question, what is masculine or feminine? To me, there is no such thing, sort of. Let me explain, there are gendered associations based on scent memory. An example of that is gardenia. My grandmother used to grow gardenia bushes, and therefore I associate them with femininity. However, I do not claim that they are only feminine because of my own inherent bias, plus I do wear some gardenia scents myself.

A lot of men have associated flowers with feminine smells. I have watched a stream were someone called one of their male viewers a woman and weak for like a rose scent. Women are not weak, for the record, and this individual was just a hateful person, but beside that point, does this person not know that many men’s fragrances contained florals in the past?

Fougeres are built from lavender, and sometimes geranium, which are both essentially flowers. Lavender is technically a mint, but it does bloom. Floris No 89, the scent that James Bond wore in the books, contains geranium and rose. In the Middle East, rose was never considered feminine. That idea is solely a western ideology, and I am not sure where it came from. In Egypt, jasmine is loved and typically not considered feminine.

On the other side, some females associate woods and spices with men. I get it, the fragrances of the past era for men were typically composed in that way. The same goes for tobacco and leather. There are many female reviewers who only review fragrances marketed to men, and also wear them.

I can understand the scent memory when it comes to these things. Maybe your grandmother wore a rose scent, and your dad wore a leather one. I understand that sometimes people have strong memories that they want to cherish. However, I am speaking on adhering to the gender lines as a whole. Did Mother Nature tell us that only women can enjoy flowers? Nope. Did the earth also say that forests are only for men? Negative. Nature’s beauty is for everyone to behold and enjoy, even in the scented form. This is why most niche and indie brands market 90% of their fragrances as unisex.

I was once scared to smell like a woman in public. I was afraid that it would make me less masculine, and that fear crippled me into denying some amazing scents. I can assure you from experience, wearing a jasmine or rose scent does not make you lose any body parts. It doesn’t make your voice get higher or lower. It doesn’t do anything except make you smell amazing. You might be surprised at how others perceive it on your own skin.

My thought process on this has been, and still is, that if I am a man wearing a scent, then it is masculine on me. If a woman wears it, then it is feminine on her. I have never been told that I smell like a woman in my life, even when I wear the most delicate jasmine scent, and even if I did, I wouldn’t care. Perfumes are for my own pleasure and others are free to enjoy it as well, but I don’t have the time to worry about their judgments on my scent.

So, ladies feel free to rock that Bleu de Chanel if you love it. Gentleman, wear that Coco Mademoiselle. Life is too short to not enjoy the thing that you love. Spring is almost upon us, and it would be a shame to miss the beautiful floral bouquet it brings along with it. If you don’t want to, then it’s fine. That is your choice, but demeaning others who enjoy these scents is not the way that the fragrance community needs to go.

What do you think about gender in regards to perfume? Should people stick to the gender lines or experience the world of scented products in their own way? What do you think of many brands marketing scents as unisex these days?

Images Credit: Glamour Magazine