Have you noticed over the last year Bath & Body Works keeps introducing Unicorn products? It seems everywhere you look there is a new unicorn product. From pocketbac holders to bath fizzies there are unicorns everywhere.
Humans have been fascinated with unicorns for centuries. Now they’re all over cosmetics and spa products. What’s driving our current obsession?
Our fascination with unicorns is nothing new. For at least two millennia, people in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have imagined horned horse-like animals with magical powers. But at various points in history–depending on the cultural climate–unicorns have represented different things. They’ve been terrifying beasts that would pierce you in the stomach or sexual-charged creatures associated with virgins. “Every generation has its own version of any monster,” Diana Peterfreund, the author of two popular books about unicorns, tells me.”In the Middle Ages, the unicorn was connected to the Christ figure. In Scotland, the unicorn was symbolic of the battle for independence.”
So what does our current obsession with unicorns tell us about our own culture?
“One distinct quality about unicorns we’ve clung to lately is their rarity,” “People talk about spotting a unicorn or finding a unicorn as something that is extremely rare.” “To people here in America in the 21st century, what we think of the most when it comes to unicorns is the sparkly part,” The version of unicorns we’re seeing now are inspired by touchstones of children of the ’90s: Lisa Frank, My Little Pony, Care Bears. For women in their twenties and thirties, that might seem like a happier time. “People are looking for an escape from reality,” “One of the main reasons for this is probably that the current climate is not the brightest.”