Consumer devices are engineered to sound masculine and powerful, not merely quiet.

Evidence

Personal devices. Electric shavers and hairdryers are also good examples of devices where the product sound quality has been taken into account. For example, the shaver should have a ‘manly’ and ‘powerful’ sound, communicating that the device is designed for a ‘real man’ to cut a ‘strong beard’. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2500

Categorization

• SEED: Pitch for an essay on the gendering of product sounds — how appliances are audio-engineered to perform masculinity, complementing the existing article on immodesty moral panics which also treats consumer/identity signaling.