GENDER DAYS: givenchy is sexist.

... why do i state this ?

for this we have to look upon perfume as an entity, as a subject for itself.

perfume is one of the aspects where the diversity between men and women or the binary system of society is deeply routed.

... why else are perfumes for women shaped as the perfect male or female body? you can also see this clearly with gaultiers perfume 'le male' or 'classique'. the shaped body of the male flacon and the classical body of the female flacon. unisex perfumes do not sell good enough. thus we increase this diversity between the one sex and the other by not reconsidering such brainwashing.

we're born into, we're pitchforked into this society which expects us to be the 'perfect' citizen. by not breaking ranks and perfectly fitting into a binary and homogeneous society. there is no gender equality at all. if i look upon bi***es such as daniela katzenberger, jessica simpson and so on, i could vomit. those chicks and girlies of this new generation with their guiding principles of 'be smart, be silly' perfectly destroy all these goals which alice schwartzer or simone de beauvoir and many other feminists tried to achieve. women should be sexy and successful, dressed in perfectly shaped dresses which stress their female body - a new form of women being the object of the male gaze. and there is nothing we do against that.

now let's come to givenchy. why is givenchy sexist? what leads me to state this?

givenchy also has a perfume with a stylises the perfectly shaped female body. it is called 'organza'. i didn't know that back then. organza long time ranked among my favourite perfumes.

but then, some days ago i discovered something which shocked and annoyed me much more.

givenchy has a perfume named pi. it is inscribed with the symbol of the mathematical constant pi about which i reported earlier. 

... and this very perfume is not available for men and women - no, it is only avaiable for men !!!

thus i asked myself: is pi some entity which only males could be interested in? is mathematics only reserved for men?

this is such absolutely binary, patriarchal thinking. there are loads of stereotypes classifying the perfect man or the perfect woman. the clichés number: girls only like pink, girls play with barbies, boys like physics and chemistry and cars and technology. and ... mathematics.

... what about marie curie, who was a physician and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity for which she also received the nobel prize.

... and what about ada lovelace, the first women and human being ever inventing a coding language? she was a mathematician. she inspired konrad zuse to invent the very first personal computer, some hundred years afterwards.

now isn't it backwards that givenchy sells the perfume pi and his successor, pi neo, only for men? what leads them to do so ?!?

the perfume from 2008 is described as 'multi dimensional woody masculine fragrance', 'Innovative. Scientific. Precise.' and 'futuristic and adventurous'. well, but this isn't futuristic, this is obsolete, discriminating and absolutely ridiculous!

... well, i wrote them a nice e-mail.

this is the complete text:

'Dear Sir (or Madam),

I’m contacting you with this E-Mail because I’m concerned about something.

This refers to your intention about the development of your fragrance ‘Pi’, which I discovered several days ago.

Me as a woman, I do like mathematics very much and I’m also interested in rather mannishly areas of knowledge, for example natural sciences or modern technologies.

When I discovered your fragrance, I was happy - first. I appreciate it very much that a fragrance is devoted to the mathematical constant Pi, also because it is my favourite number.

Thus I was quite eager to order it immediately.

But there was a little problem: this fragrance is apparently only available in a man’s edition.

First I was confused, and then I was upset.

What did you intend in creating a fragrance only available for men, which is clearly inscribed with the name of a famous mathematical constant? Do you believe that only men are interested in Pi? Do you think that mathematics is unfeminine? Do you believe that women should only be draped in vanilla and orchids and pink coloured dresses?

I really do ask myself what’s the point of that?

When I read the description to your fragrance ‘Pi Neo’ of 2008 my terror and annoyance have multiplied by 3,14. So you really do believe your fragrance is the perfect fit for the hero of the 21^st century?  For the modern man discovering the future? Oh yes. Well this must actually be an advance of the old, dirty, sad and dark past – a glorification of the old patriarchy, a discrimination of the modern woman and a degradation of the improvements made by feminism and gender equality !!!

Why shouldn’t mathematics and natural sciences not only be available for women, too? Why shouldn’t Pi be available for women, too (you can take this absolutely literally)?

Do you believe this is avant-garde, modern, future-oriented ?!

What about all the heroines of the past, the present and the future? … Did you miss them out deliberately?

The question also came up if your obsolete attitude is also reflected in the effeminate design of your fragrance ‘Organza’? … Which actually classed among my favourite fragrances for a very long time? Well, this now really is a thing of the past, because my dismay shall be reflected in denying your label.

There is no other option left than this one.

I do not expect any answer from your side, although I would be interested in hearing what you have to say to this.

With disappointed regards,

Dahi Koch

P.S. I will also comment on this on my blog, strangenessandcharms.blogspot.de – this is an international fashion blog with now about 620 followers via Google Friend Connect and 1500 Fans via its Facebook Fanpage.

You should keep this in mind.

Thanks.'

... and a nice screenshot:

i haven't received any answer yet ... and i'm not expecting any answers, though - although i would be interested in what they have to say to defend their former intention

until then, i will boycott givenchy. i will not encourage a sexist company like this.