I’ve said this before: You know those license-plate frames, “I’d Rather Be Shopping At Nordstrom’s?” If I owned one of those, it would have a big red slash through it.
In other words, I’d rather be doing almost ANYTHING than shopping at Nordstrom’s. Or any place attached to a mall.
(orig. image courtesy lenenaevdal.com)
But still, I entered the gaping maw of the Beast this past Monday in order to “allow” my husband to buy me my (late) birthday gift, a gold chain to replace the one I lost this summer.
I’m still feeling guilty about going to a chain store (HA! pun SO not intended!) to buy that chain. Somewhere out there is a lil’ mom ‘n’ pop jewelry store, and I’m positive that my missing $$$ in their till is probably what will make the difference in sliding them into bankruptcy this year. Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Pop.
But you see, husband & I were in Eugene…we weren’t expected at our friends’ house for another hour…we had some time to kill…and my birthday was six weeks ago…and there are NO jewelry stores that sell plain old jewelry on our island. (Adorable earrings made from shells and crystals–yes. Gold chains–no.)
And…chain stores are way cheaper. And gold is expensive already. Dang it–still feeling guilty. ANYWAY.
As soon as I walked into the mall, I remember why I rarely walk into malls, and my husband felt it even worse. At Christmastime, yet! At least it was Monday–“Cyber Monday,” in fact–so it wasn’t all that crowded. But the music and the displays were still overwhelming. I picked out my chain, tried it on, watched husband pay for it, and we got out of there. I swear he was shuddering.
Later, we compared notes with our friends, who have two middle school-aged daughters…who adore shopping. Their mom, who’s more like me, sighed, saying she forces herself to go to the mall with her girls from time to time because they enjoy it so much. Didn’t I do that with my kids?
Nope. I have BOYS. They “love” the mall as much as their dad does.
That led to a spirited discussion of whether and why boys are less into malls than girls. Is it because boys are less into clothing, and malls are more about clothes shopping than, say, Legos, or electronics?
(orig. image courtesy publicdomainpictures.net)
We decided we needed more “data.” Not the kind where you do actual research. I mean the kind where I ask,
What do y’all think? In your experience, are girls truly more into shopping than boys, or is this just a stereotype? IF this happens, what, in your opinion, is driving it?
And then I sit back and wait to hear what you have to say.
Wing's World 
I love to dress, I love clothes, and I adore fashion. But unless I am shopping with my sisters, and that really is a social event, I tend to avoid the stores. It’s so time consuming, looking for bright colors and they never seem to have my size. Especially when I know I could be home writing. I buy most of my clothes on line, which explains why they never quite fit. I don’t know why boys don’t like shopping. I think it’s because they are impatient, which explains why men’s clothes are usually on the first floor. They can’t be bothered taking the escalator! Any salesperson will tell you that they pray to sell men’s clothing. They don’t wait for sales, they try on quickly and they make decisions immediately. And they are more expensive.
Huh, never thought about the escalator thing. Suzanne has similar thoughts about patience, below.
I think it comes down to this: Patience. My husband likes to shop, but he has the patience of a gnat. He could never spend hours tooling around the mall looking for just the right pair of shorts, flipflops or tshirt (it’s all he wears). He’d grab the the first one in his size and call it good.
Interesting. Does that same lack of patience extend to non-clothing items, like tools or electronics? I certainly find that’s true for me. Maybe I AM a dude. 🙂
Small sample: 3 females, 7 males. 1 daughter and 2 grand-daughters. 2 sons and 5 grandsons. None of the boys like to shop…except it must be clarified, for electronic gear and games. Since they generally do it on-line, they do not classify it as shopping. As for the girls, they all liked to shop. My daughter loved thrift stores and street fairs. My grand-daughters adore Nordstroms. What can I say? Which does lead to a question and the need for a definition. If it doesn’t happen in a mall or along a street and on foot in a shop or store, can it really be defined as “shopping?
Hey, your sample’s way better than mine! But yeah…I don’t think on-line counts. Your “data” seem to match my own observations…still waiting for someone to bust up this stereotype. Might not happen!