Progress: Unilever is doing their part to wash away bigotry by removing the word 'normal' from personal care products

Having solved all other problems, Unilever is turning their attention to an issue we never even realized a problem.

Probably because the issue is only a problem for people who have nothing better to do with their lives than invent problems that aren’t actually problems.

Unilever, which owns Dove, Axe and other personal-care brands, has said it would no longer use the word “normal” on its products and in its advertising, after a study found that it makes most people feel excluded. https://t.co/xO0dlFvyVP

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 9, 2021

A study! Science!

So, by all means, let’s ditch “normal” before someone gets hurt:

“We know that removing ‘normal’ from our products and packaging will not fix the problem alone, but it is an important step forward,” Sunny Jain, Unilever’s president for beauty and personal care, said in the statement. Mr. Jain added that the company was committed to tackling harmful norms and stereotypes.

A spokeswoman for Unilever said on Tuesday that the company had over 200 products that included the word “normal” on the label. She said the company had already started the removal process, with aims to have it fully completed by March 2022.

Have … have nonwhite, non-cis-heterosexual people been told not to use “normal” products? Did we miss when that happened?

“Saying the word ‘normal’ has been used to set you apart,” [Ateh Jewel, a beauty journalist and an advisory board member of the British Beauty Council] said. “I am normal. My dark skin is normal. My juicy West African curvy body is normal. Everything about me is normal.”

…

“Words are powerful and we’re so used to having this unconscious bias,” Ms. Jewel said. “It just washes over us. We don’t even realize what we’re saying because we’ve been spoon-fed racism.”

What’s so difficult about this? There are many beauty products geared toward specific groups of women (or men, or trans women, or trans men, etc.). For sensitive skin, dry skin, dandruff, oily hair, dry hair, natural hair … pretty much everyone is covered. And “normal” covers a lot of people, too.

If “normal” beauty products are seriously a major problem for some people, then those people should get down on their knees and give thanks, because it means they’ve actually got it pretty good. We have no doubt that many out there would love to be obsessing about their shampoo instead of facing actual problems of actual consequence.