Senior Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition
For my Senior Thesis Exhibition, I chose to research how fragrances and scents became associated with binary genders. I noticed this the most when I got into wearing colognes and saw the advertisements. The cologne ads are always hyper sexualized and filled with imagery that I see as ridiculous. I also wear what the stores designate as women perfume because I enjoy some of the scents regardless of the association between sweet fragrances and women. I decided to make a cologne brand that satirized the ridiculous advertisements of gendered fragrances.
Catalog Article
Prior to the 19th century, fragrances were not labelled as feminine or masculine. With the rise of the working class came the rise of gender roles and marketing tactics to exploit binary gender roles to sell more products and take advantage of the separation of men and women in industrial society. In Judith Butlers essay: Performative Acts of Gender Constitution, Butler argues that gender is not a matter of sex but is a stylized performance over time.[1] Marketing agencies and other corporations reinforce binary gender roles and create a system that makes people feel wrong if they violate these perceived rules of gender. If a cis gender man were to wear perfume from Victoria Secret, other people may claim that this is wrong because it goes against their perception of their gender role. I believe the way that we are advertised to for certain binary genders is heavy handed and blatant, limiting the brands growth and also being detrimental to society’s perception of what is acceptable gender performance.
The fragrance industry genders all of their products and creates branding systems that are meant to signify masculinity or femininity through the aromas they produce. Fragrances are not inherently gendered and we only recognize these scents as masculine or feminine from examples set by others or through the ad campaigns the industry utilizes. How is the fragrance industry subject to gendered marketing and how does this play into society’s perception of gender? The fragrance industry preys upon the engrained system of gender roles and reinforces these stereotypes in order to profit off of the insecurity that someone may not be performing their gender to society’s standards.
[1] Jagger, Gill. Judith Butler Sexual Politics, Social Change and the Power of the Performative. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Covid-19 Adjustments
Initially, the thesis exhibition was expected to be hosted at the Center for Visual Arts in their gallery space. I envisioned a large 8’x24′ wall vinyl and glass display case with fully actualized cologne and packaging. I wanted to have the aspect of scent and having the aggressive hyper masculine brand paired with a fragrance that was the complete opposite of what we have been conditioned to perceive as masculine fragrances. On the tester strips that I had already begun to prepare were quotes from people such as Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir. Unfortunately shortly before we were to begin setting up in the space, the physical exhibition was cancelled and we switched to an online exhibition.