Shopping Excursion

Although the separation between genders is made evident in every retail store (most stores have separate sections for men and women) it's difficult for me to consider shops in a gendered setting. It's interesting because retail stores are perhaps the one of the most gendered and gender-specific environments one can find themselves in. Clothing stores perpetuate the gender binary and commonly enforce gender stereotypes concerning what women "should" wear and what men "should" wear. Although I failed to find a considerable difference in gender representation throughout the stores I visited, I did find that going to these stores with social class and gender representation in mind influenced my overall attitude towards how retail stores operate within the confines of the gender binary.

The first store I visited was Buffalo Exchange on east 11th street, between 1st and 2nd avenue. Buffalo Exchange is a thrift store that buys it's merchandise from customers, it's formally known as a "resell" shop. I remember when I worked in retail, one of the workers manuals stated that men's clothing should be located at the front of the store because men "don't want to go through the women's clothing in order to get to the men's section." which I always think about the second I walk into a store (it was one of the more interesting points out of the manual) Buffalo Exchange followed this idea. The implications of this business model are interesting but somewhat unnerving. Why should the convenience of male shoppers be considered over the convenience of another? Obviously one of the driving forces behind his idea is that although women are being purposely inconvenienced, they’ll shop in the store regardless of having to walk through the men’s section. Also, what is so unsettling about the women’s section in a clothing store that a man shouldn’t be bothered to walk through? This systematic separation implies blatant sexism just the arrangement of the clothing in the store.

In Urban Outfitters, however, it’s the opposite. The store is significantly larger than Buffalo Exchange, however the second you walk in all that is noticeable is women’s clothing and accessories. The men’s selection is located downstairs. What’s interesting about the gender separation in UO was the display of accessories. While upstairs carries nail polish, wallets, “cute” iphone cases, rings and jewelry along with the women’s clothing; the men’s section downstairs doubled as the book and furniture section. Perhaps UO thought that books and furniture were more “masculine” accessories then jewelry and wallets.

The final store I visited was OAK on Bond street. The store is small but has two floors, rather than being divided by male/female items, the store is divided by price range. The pricier items are displayed on the main floor and the less-expensive (but still out of[l1]   my price range) items are displayed downstairs. OAK also has a considerable amount of unisex basics, so it was difficult to tell where the gender separation was. There were few shoppers (each store I entered seemed to have less than the last, Buffalo Exchange being the busiest) who were all very stylish looking. The employees were an equal amount of men and women and the manager was a woman. Urban Outfitters definitely had more people  working on the main  floor than workers in the basement floor. I feel that this implies that there tends to be more customers on the main floor who have to be watched/need service.

The more high-end the store I visited, the less gendered it became. It’s interesting because I would normally assume that stores that are high-end would perpetuate the gender stereotypes the most, advertising and enforcing the difference between men and women. However, I feel that because OAK is a small boutique who represents smaller, more independent designers in brands it aimed to eliminate the restrictions of reserving different sections of the store to only men or to only women. Stores like Buffalo Exchange, who are driven by heavy traffic of customers who come from all over the class spectrum, might have to abide by the gender separation in order to appeal to a the male gender who are assumed to shop less than women and with more inhibition.

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