Men weigh in on the male equivalent of 'women's clothes don't have pockets'
"Why can’t I get a health/hygiene product that isn’t labeled something like 'grizzly bear fist fight sleep strips for tough men'?"
Few moments make a woman's face light up than the moment she realizes a dress she's trying on has pockets. It's such a simple thing, but it's like a whole world of possibilities opens up as soon as she slides her hands into those pockets and spins.
That's because women's clothes of all kinds so often don't have pockets. Even pants that look like they have pockets don't actually have pockets half the time, or the pocket is so tiny you can't even squeeze a quarter into it. And there's no real reason for this baffling reality for women—but is there an equivalent complaint for men?
Men were asked to weigh in on the male equivalent of "Why do women's clothes not come with pockets?" and a surprising number weighed in.
Why do men's products have vague, hyper-masculine names?
If something is made for men, it can't just be named what it is. It has to be over-the-top manly sounding.
"Why can’t I get a health/hygiene product that isn’t labeled something like 'grizzly bear fist fight sleep strips for tough men'?"
"'Dude Wipes' that cost double what a generic wet wipe costs. I don't get how anyone justifies that kind of wasteful spending these days."
"Strongman Righteous Fury Personal Cleansing Wipes."
"Right?! What focus group decided I wanted to smell like a bear's leather glove? Why is the bear wearing gloves to begin with? Was it going to do crime? I'm really not the criming type."
"Women’s products smell like things while men’s products smell like concepts."
"You mean you don't want to, 'smell like naval diplomacy'?"
"Yeah it's annoying. Soap marketed for women usually has what it smells like right on the bottle, while soap for men do not. When the bottle says 'XTREME ARCTIC SPORT' or 'HYDRA ENERGETIC' I have no idea what to expect."
"I use Old Spice 'Fiji and palm tree.' No idea what either of those smell like in real life, but at least the words resemble actual smells."
Why is men's formal wear oh-so-hot?
Not the good kind of hot—the sweating-at-a-wedding kind of hot.
"Men’s formal wear is really hot. Like if we go to a fancy wedding in the summer, I’m in a suit and tie, my wife is in a tiny dress."
"Was in an August wedding, 30+ celsius outside, bride wanted all the groom's party in wool suits. That day was hell."
"Yep. Undershirt, then dress shirt, then vest, then suit jacket."
"it really sucks at summer funerals. at least at a wedding its not like super rude to take your jacket off and roll your sleeves up."
"It's not just formal wear. Men don't have any short clothes that are 'acceptable' as more than casual wear. In offices, women can wear skirts when it's hot out. Men have no equivalent - they just have to sit there sweating with pants on."
"Women like it warm but their formal clothes are skimpy.
Men like it cool but their formal clothes have many layers.
Seems like it should be the other way around. Suit jackets and tuxedos for women, sheer dresses for men."
Why such a lack of variety in men's clothing overall?
Women seem to have infinite choices when it comes to style, color, etc. Men's fashion is much more limited, both in variety and quantity.
"The lack of variety for mens clothing in stores. Women's clothing will fill up 90% of the store while men get a tiny closed off section like here ya go guys"
"In the back of the store, next to the clearance aisle and the bathrooms."
"If the shop has multiple floors, it's always the one furthest from the ground floor. Usually the men's section also has to share the floor with the kid's and home decor sections!"
"For some reason, I always seem to find the men's section right next to shoes, which is usually 90% women's shoes. And the women's shoe section is still larger than the entire men's clothing section."
"Also in gym clothes. I feel like women has a vast variety in all kinds of colors and patterns that look amazing.
Men can pick between black, gray, navy blue, and white. And definitely no patterns at all."
"Sometimes there is green. Also, there might be both light gray and dark gray."
Why do clothing manufacturers assume men grow out as they grow up?
People come in all sizes regardless of gender, but since men's clothing styles are more limited, their sizing issues are notable.
"Stores assuming that if you're over 6 feet tall, you must also be 6 feet wide."
"This is the bane of my existence. Especially for work uniforms. If I go medium-sized shirt, it's way too small. If I get a large, then it looks like I'm wearing a parachute."
"Men's shirts get wider with each size but not longer."
"Similarly, if your shoulders are wider, your gut must be bigger."
"And the sleeve length to size ratio is all over the place. Trying shirt on and it's a little snug and the cuffs are in the middle of your forearms. Go up a size and the torso fits but the sleeves dangle at your knees... or they still don't reach your wrists."
"Yes. The men’s shirt paradox.
-Long enough
- Wide enough
- Sleeves/cuffs the correct length
(Pick any 2, but you never get all 3)."
Men added other things as well, such as jewelry options for men being boring, men's dress shoes having zero traction whatsoever (same goes for women's dress shoes, to be fair), men's bathrooms not coming with changing tables, and how annoying non-elongated toilets are. Women have far more things than "clothes without pockets" they could add to a list as well, which just highlights how hilariously absurd some of these gender-based constructs are.