Gender roles at Bloomingdales

For my excursion project I decided to do the shopping excursion. The reason I chose the shopping excursion is because I wanted to see the different shopping trends and pricing between men and women. I decided to make my observations at Bloomingdales because it is a huge department store that offers a great variety of products and it also targets upper and middle class shoppers due to their designer clothing and products and their location on the Upper East Side.

When I walked into the men’s clothing department, I observed that there were not that many male shoppers in fact I counted 17 males in total. Therefore, the men’s department was not crowded or busy. There were not that many sections available for men as the men’s clothing sections consisted of 2 floors compare to the women’s shopping department, which included to 3 full floors just for women’s clothing, perfumes, and make-up. At the women’s clothing sections there were a lot more shoppers, the area was crowded and busy. I observed about 3 couples shopping together and I noticed 2 women with baby strollers and several women shopping with their small children. The fact that were several women shopping with their children indicate that women are still the predominant caregivers in the household. So, even when women have to do their own personal shopping they are also responsible in taking their children with them as oppose to the men who shop by themselves.

When I made the comparison to some of the clothing prices I noticed that male jeans were more expensive than female jeans, but I think this is due to the fact that shopping stores target women shoppers more because there is a greater variety of clothing for women. Therefore, women tend to spend more than men because women shop for dresses, skirts, greater variety is shirts, pants, and cosmetics.

Clothing	Adult male	Adult female
J brand Jeans	$230	$175
Shirts	$60-$80	$80-100
Dresses	N/A	$180+
Sneakers (Nike)	$100-180	$95-100

In the children’s clothing section, I observed that the infant clothing section for girls was dominated by pink and yellow colors and that the boy’s section was dominated by blue and green colors. This is an example that our children are sold gender roles from the moment that they are born as girls are expected to wear pink clothing and boys are expected to wear blue. I also noticed that there were no adult male shoppers and that there were about 23 female adults shopping for their children. Once again proving that women are still the primary caregivers at home and are expected to shop for their children.

In the article, the war over sexist onesies, Mary Elizabeth Williams discusses this issue on how gender roles are sold to our children from the moment that they are born and how children’s clothing stores such a Gymboree propagate these gender stereotypes in the clothes of baby infants. For example, Williams points out that in these onesies the expectations of boys and girls are as follow: “If you’re a little boy, you can be “Daddy’s Little Buddy.” A “Perfect Little Man.” You can be a “rascal” or “cool,” an “Adventure Seeker” or “Mr. Personality.” You can wear a football and the moniker “Daddy’s MVP.” If you’re a girl, you can be a MVP, too. But for the little ladies, those letters stand for “Most Valuable Princess.” You can also be “cutie sweet” or a “fairy.” You can be “Daddy’s Little Cupcake” or “A Little Bon Bon.” Dream big, baby girls! Boys may be on a course for greatness, but you can be a dessert!” These stereotypes are harmful because they ignore the fact that many women are smart and educated, and unfortunately they value a woman's physical beauty more than their brain. Also, I found it offensive that they assume the only fathers are the smart ones in the family.

After observing the expectations that clothing stores have for our children it is difficult to imagine a society where women achieve true equality because from the moment girls are born they are expected to be princesses and meet high beauty expectations by constantly altering their appearance by shopping for clothing and cosmetics in hopes of looking like the models and celebrities portrayed by the media.