CHAPTER 1

Women Get Malled: I Shop Therefore I Am

Shopping has been a love of women for millennia. Ovid, who lived around thefirst century A.D., once declared, "Women are always buying something."

Why do women love to shop? Anthropologists tell us that it's a leftover habitfrom our huntergatherer days. Since humans first roamed the Earth, women werethe ones close to home, gathering the nuts and berries, and we still like to doit.

Both men and women cite price and quality as reasons for where they shop, butthe similarities stop there. Sixty-seven percent of women say they enjoyshopping, whereas only 37 percent of men do. And stores with a wide selectiontend to be uncomfortable for men; they don't want too many choices. Women, onthe other hand, overwhelmingly love having a wide variety to select from.

Studies also confirm that women are affected by the environment in which theyshop more than men, perhaps because they spend more time there. Women need spaceto move from aisle to aisle without feeling cramped. At makeup counters, forinstance, women tend to gravitate to the corner, where they can wrap themselvesaround the counter and avoid being bumped. We hate stuff we have to bend overfor, not because we aren't willing to bend, but because we are afraid of gettingbumped into from behind.

At the Mall

* When asked whether they would rather have sex or go shopping, 57 percent ofwoman choose the mall.

* Seventy-two percent of women say they shop for recreation. We head for adepartment store about 16 times a year and spend about 4 hours a month at themall (down from 8 hours ten years ago). A typical visit lasts an hour, and wecome home with our wallets about $35 lighter.

* "SHOPPING is the female version of church—it's SPIRITUAL." —Joan Baez

* The United States has more malls than any other country on Earth—42,048 at lastcount.

Our love affair with malls appears to be waning, however. We're going there lessand spending less time when we're there. Online shopping and not enough timehave both been cited as reasons, along with the theory that malls have becometoo similar and lack novelty. To lure us back, mall owners are adding schools,libraries, police substations, museums, and churches. I guess they figure if youhave to be there for some other reason, you might drop a few dollars at a storeat the same time.

Someone asked people the following question: If you were given $500, what amountwould they spend on clothes. Women said $278, compared to $202 for men.

A recent survey of female shoppers found women to be much less brand-consciousthan in previous decades, and researchers chalk up the huge difference towomen's entrance into the workforce and the sense of self-esteem work gives us."For women today," said Laurie Ashcraft, coauthor of the study, "status comesfrom within, rather than without." We are also more interested, Ashcraftdiscovered, in wellness than in how we look.

Inside Our Closets

The International Mass Retailing Association tells us that the average Americanhas in her or his house 23 batteries, 2.9 televisions, 15 sweatshirts, and 12kinds of snack foods.

One-quarter of women admit to switching sizes of two-piece outfits, such asbathing suits, to get a better fit when their tops and bottoms are differentsizes. And one-tenth of us own up to having bought something with the expressedintention of wearing it to an event and then returning it to the store—and fewof us feel guilty about it.

If we pick up a basket at a housewares store, there's a 75 percent chance wewill buy something (as opposed to 34 percent for basketless folks).

About half of us say we search for a bargain when shopping, and 41 percentbelieve the biggest financial mistake they have made is paying too much forsomething.

Buying something new is a happiness booster for almost everyone, but we tend todo it when we are already in a celebratory mood. Sorry retailers, but when womenare feeling bad, they are much more likely to call someone than to go shoppingto cheer up. However, 57 percent of us (as compared to 27 percent of men) say weshop to relieve stress.

Half of us begin Christmas shopping right after Thanksgiving, with only 9percent of women waiting till the last minute (as opposed to about one-quarterof all men).

Surveys tell us we spend more time shopping per week—6 hours—than playing withour kids, reading, or gardening.

Gift Symbology

Looking to give a gift with meaning? According to the fascinating book, TheLanguage of Gifts, virtually anything one could buy is loaded with symbolism.Here, for instance, are ideas specifically for women:

* Baskets: Women's domain; fertility; wholeness and togetherness

* Brooms: Female magic; domesticity; the contributions of wise women

* Shells: The womb; fertility; resurrection

* Camellia: A unique woman; loveliness; excellence

* Vulture: Exemplary motherhood

* Unicorn: Femininity; purity; goodness

* The Number 4: Womanhood; root of all things; security; potential

More than 515 million pairs of jeans are sold in the United States each year,and the average household has 14 pairs.

Men so hate shopping that one survey found that their stress levels whileshopping were "equivalent to emergency situations experienced by fighter pilotsor policemen going into dangerous situations." And virtually all women polledwho took their male partners shopping with them regretted that move.

Women still do most of the grocery shopping for the family (70 percent)—althoughincreasingly more men are taking on this task (17 percent; the remaining percentare the couples shoppers)—and we shop on average 3.4 times per week. (Pooradvance planning, I guess.)

Only 31 percent of shoppers have a list (which is probably why they have to gomore than once a week, in this list-writer's opinion). But far more women carrylists than men. Even with a list, we're not particularly disciplined.Statisticians say that two-thirds of what we buy are impulse items. (So the lesswe go to the store, the more money we save.)

Women tend to nosh on food illegally at the grocery more than men, to sneak intothe express line with more items than allowed, and to read the magazines whilewe wait.

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