Why Young Men in the US Should Pay Attention to and Advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment
July 23, 2024
By Chrisi West, ERA Coalition Comms Director
About Gender Fair
Want to change the world? Want to put your money where your mouth is but you’re not sure how? We talked to the folks at Gender Fair to learn a little more about their app (and browser extension) and decided to try it out for ourselves!
According to the Gender Fair website, they grade companies on their leadership, employee policies, advertising, diversity reporting, and social impact measurements in order to determine whether or not they meet the standard for demonstrating investment in and progress on gender equality. To be eligible for certification a company must annually achieve at least 70 points out of 100 in their proprietary rating. You can learn more about their certification process here.
How it works: my test drive
Full disclosure: I used products already in my house to test the app since I don’t need any more encouragement to go shopping. Gender Fair rates all kinds of companies though, including clothing brands, restaurants, furniture companies, and more - not just bath and body products.
Using the app on my Google Pixel phone, I took pictures of the logos of several products in my bathroom. Some of the logos were a little worn off since they sit in the shower, so I was able to type those companies in by name to search for them.
The results were mixed, which is good for me to know. Not so good for the companies that I now know are not gender fair! (They should expect an email from me shortly.)
Each time I looked up a company logo or brand, the app showed me a score with options to see the score details or look up the parent company.
Choosing the score details took me to another screen where the product is rated in five categories on a five star rating scale:
- leadership & opportunities,
- employee policies,
- advertising and communication,
- diversity reporting,
- and social impact.
If you choose the parent company option it will show you the overall Gender Fair score for the parent company as well!
If a logo or company is scored as Not Gender Fair, another option alongside the first two shows up: Gender Fair Alternatives. This was GREAT; it gives me different options for products or companies that actually treat all genders fairly and with equal access to opportunities and leadership positions!
My products
I scanned some random things around the house - and now that I know which products are and are not Gender Fair, I can adjust my shopping habits accordingly. Afterall, if we want to be the change we want to see in the world, we should probably be shopping it, too, right?
These companies ended up being Gender Fair (with a score of 70 or above out of 100):
My Alterna hair care and OPI nail polish were not Gender Fair, so I looked up Gender Fair alternatives right in the app:
My rec: download it!
I didn’t see a way to suggest companies or products for Gender Fair to score (like my Dermologica face wash or LUSH soap), but they might be able to see brands I searched for by name and eventually add those on their own.
Overall the Gender Fair app is crazy easy to use, either in-store or at home with products you already have. There’s also a browser extension for Chrome for all you online shoppers! They get a 10/10 from me!
You can download the Gender Fair app from the Apple App or Google Play stores!Â
