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Feminine And Feminine Colors Of Lavender And Camille Are Reserved For Females Essay

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In The United States, nearly ever individual could differentiate between whether a scent is feminine or masculine. We ascribe scents of must and spice to males; scents of lavender and Camille are reserved for females exclusively. Victoria Frolova of Bois de Jasmin (a professionally trained perfume specialist), finds the notion of gendered perfumes to be socially constructed. Although the western world may be very dichotomous in perfume, this is not the case universally. In a perfume expedition to Middle East, she encountered a vender selling perfume. Victoria asked what the vender had for both male and female scents. The vender seemed confused, but eventually responded “if it smells good, they wear them all.” To further illustrate how there are abundant cultural differences in the preferences of perfumes, she found that males in the Middle East reported that they loved the smell of rose, a popular perfume for males. Another cultural difference can be found in Brazil, where women lean towards “fresher, greener fragrances” over the traditionally popular fruity-floral scents that are the norm in North American females. Victoria also addresses how culture plays some other roles in developing scents of perfumes for the genders. Factors such as access to ingredients, environmental factors, and historical significance play a role (Douglas Bender). Earlier on in life, we begin to start distinguishing between the culturally deemed “masculine” and “feminine” scents (). Parental and

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