patriarchal scents

Invention of Laundry Detergent for Men Signals End of Long Fight for Male Equality

FREY for Men/Instagram
FREY for Men/Instagram

In case your detergent smelling of some variety of spring flower is too offensive to the dudes in your life, here is FREY for Men, a detergent made of musk and oak — mmm, stereotypical dude smells!

“Grab life by the handle.” With your big strong man-hand.

FREY for Men states on its website that it created this new detergent to help achieve its mission of gender equality:

“The detergent industry, among many other industries, is clearly genderized and outdated. Almost every product is explicitly tailored towards women, stemming from an era we, as a society, have outgrown. FREY offers men a laundry product of their own. In doing so hope to help break down stereotypes about who should do which household chores.”

This is a fine mission — laundry should not be a gendered household chore. But at the same time, it’s like saying men will only do the laundry if it smells manly enough. Will they only open the washer if it exudes oak and musk? Come on. Surely the patriarchy isn’t that particular (?).

Look, It’s Pointless Detergent Made for Men