My father can be a tough customer when it comes to gift-giving, and Father’s Day is no exception. I believe this is born partly from his anti-materialist hippie roots and partly from social standards that discourage men from analyzing their own wants and needs.
Luckily, my dad is a huge knife and cooking fanatic, so this Father’s Day, I’m getting him a cheese slicer. But not all the dads, grandpas and father figures in our lives have such easy-to-shop-for niches.
However, one area of life that should be more normalized in mainstream society is the universal human need for grooming. Pragmatically, it’s a way of becoming more hygienic and presentable, yet there’s also an alarming trend of people viewing things like spas, salons and skin treatments as unsuitable indulgences for men.