30 Products That Were Originally Intended To Be Used By Men And Are Now Used By Women (And Vice Versa)

1. High heels were originally made for butchers to wear (who were mostly men) so that they could keep their feet clean of any blood from slaughtering animals.

2. Pink and blue were originally considered colors for boys and girls, respectively.

3. Yoga. It was invented by men for men but for some reason it’s mostly women who gravitate towards it at least in the west. Many men are too afraid to try it which is a shame because yoga is enjoyable I really enjoy it and it has a lot of benefits.

4. Skirts used to be worn in battle by men for more room to move around.

5. In America, Ugg boots were originally worn by male surfers, with their girlfriends stealing and wearing them like they would a leather jacket.

6. Old Spice was launched by Shulton Inc. in 1937. William Lightfoot Schultz was inspired by his mother’s potpourri and as a result, the first Old Spice product in 1937 was a woman’s scent called Early American Old Spice. The product was received well, and therefore followed with Old Spice for men in 1938.

7. Croptops. A football thing, initially.

8. Shaving razors were made for men, but women shave a good bit more now, both in frequency and surface area.

9. Makeup, primarily worn by wealthy men back in the day.

10. Wristwatches. They were made because most women didn’t have pockets for pocket watches. Now I pretty much just see men wear them, though they’ve started to fall out of style.

11. Names like Ashley, Kim, Beverly, Addison, Shelby, etc. Used to be boys’ names, now are mostly girls’. I hope eventually people can just pick the name they like without worrying about which gender is using it more. Boys are going to run out of names otherwise!

12. Not specifically for one gender, but maxi pads came about because nurses in WWI started using the wound packing pads for their periods. Prior to that, women mainly used home made washable rags.

13. Fedoras and trilby hats. Both hats are named for the (fictional) women who wore them.

14. Leggings. In the early renaissance, young, fashionable men just… stopped wearing their skirts/robes. The old, religious men were absolutely scandalized. Sounds familiar, no?

15. Purses. Back in the day all the men carried their coinage in a purse. Although it’s making a comeback for modern dudes.

16. Corsets were predominantly male when first brought about then gradually became both then just mainly female.

17. Pilates was actually created by a German man named Joseph Pilates who created it for rehabilitation. His first patients were actually war veterans and then dancers.

18. Historically, women wore trousers, while men wore robes in many parts of the world, like Greece, Persia and Rome, and some parts of Europe. But definitely not in the US, France or England.

19. Most fashion inspired by military uniforms (mostly men) are usually worn by women (combat boots, epaulets on shoulders, olive drab jackets, berets etc.).

20. Playgirl. The magazine was founded in 1973 and was marketed to women. However, gay men became the most dominant consumer of the magazine.

21. Midol was marketed as non-gender-specific headache medication when it was first created, decades later they changed to marketing it specifically for treating menstrual cramps and bloating.

22. Computer programming was a job originally intended for women.

23. I remember reading somewhere that Kleenex was made for ladies to remove their makeup, but their husbands were blowing their noses in them. And now we all blow our noses in them.

24. Automatic cars. They wear made for women because it was believed women couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to use a stick shift that it was too complicated for them.

25. Hitachi Magic Wand. It was originally manufactured for relieving tension and relaxing sore muscles. Often used by athletes. But now is famous for its use as a sex toy/industrial strength vibrator.

26. The Ford Mustang. It was supposed to be a car with a big trunk to you could fit all the groceries in it. There was even an ad or article stating that you can own a mustang that matches the color of your lipstick. Makes sense why a lot of old mustangs are red.

27. Holding doors for people. A woman was supposed to hold the door for a man so he could check for any dangers in the building (the thought was mainly for married couples, but it could be done to a total stranger as well). At some point it flipped and turned to just being a polite thing to do.

28. Filtered cigarettes in general, but Marlboro made the biggest leap in terms of gendered marketing. Once that whole conspiracy theory came out that like cigarettes are bad for you or something and more people switched to filtered cigarettes (it’s filtered, that means it’s good for you!) was around the time the the salt of the earth classic American Marlboro Man came into existence, trying to distance the brand from its previously woman focused advertisements.

29. Those leg stirrups they use at the gynecologist were invented for removing bladder stones in men. They used to cut from below the testicles and cut right through the prostate. It had a very low survival rate.

30. Victoria’s Secret was originally supposed to be a place for men to buy lingerie for their wives and not feel embarrassed, but now it’s almost exclusively shopped at by women.