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Why exactly are these "for men"? Can't women like clean lines, too? In fact the product description says that they are "elegant luxury with a feminine touch." FEMININE. :)

I does, doesn't it, taritac.

This reminds me of - me. And my mother, and to some extent my sister. My mother thinks of me as the tomboy, who likes things plain, tailored, sporty, and that my favorite color is blue. To that end (while somewhat true), I get a lot of gifts I don't actually like because my mother doesn't actually know what I like, or the whole aesthetic picture. She has some trouble with me and ruffly, shiny, floral, or pink things I might also like, and sticks to the safe category which doesn't always guarantee a hit.

When I see products like this, I think, well there probably aren't a lot of bathroom suite coordinates that would appeal to men, and so we imagine we'll hit 'em with the old black and chrome. As designs (for all) for this sort of thing go, this is one of them. It explicitly mentions a feminine touch in the product description. I'm not sure what to make of that. If a man has a say in the matter, a preference there, or is in a position to notice these details, is this what there is? It's not unappealing to people, but it's striking how things are marketed to men (which this isn't) like they all like about the same thing. If one is designing a bathroom for a man, or, as alluded to in the article, stealthily revising one's boyfriend in short steps by replacing their (implied) barbaric utilitarian choices with a nonthreatening domestic ensemble, this must be where that feminine touch comes in.

It is sad every design for a "man" has to be black, metal, and simple. There has to be more than one kind of man out there - with different taste in design.

It is only when gender is categorized by parents and society that say, strong bold dark is masculine and light, soft and pale is feminine. When actually great design is fluid and able to appeal to anyone who can appreciate it.

i think these are kind of tacky.

also, what it a bottle pop top?

I think he means like a bottle opener. Not exactly like the one I have linked, but some sort of functional countertop device, where most people would have it on their keys or in the miscellaneous section of their silverware drawer (or use a screwdriver, like I do sometimes): http://www.aardvarktongue.com/blog/the-kangaroo-scrotum-bottle-opener-stranger-than-aardvark-fiction-item-4/

I like the salt and pepper shakers.

I like these a lot.

"Feminine" = PINK, didn't you know?! (I hate pink.)

The truth is men in proportion prefer certain forms and certain colours, and those happen to be blue, black and silver. This doesn't mean women can't appreciate or like these, neither does it imply men cannot choose to decorate their bathroom in traditionally female colours or forms if that suits their fancy. But nearly everything is designed with a gender in mind (or even when not seemingly so, gender is taken into account to make it "gender neutral"). 3 years designing girl's home decor products woke me up to how hard it is to shake gender categorization...not from the manufacturer/seller's end, but from the perspective of public's expectations and wants. Delineating products to satisfy certain gender can be occasionally frustrating, but in this case, it's appealing to a minority market who could benefit from being included in the purchasing/decorating decisions that has traditionally been assigned to women.

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