Gender Differences Part IX: Shopping

The basic difference when it comes to shopping is, women enjoy it and men don't. 

Being in a clothing store is an almost physical pleasure for women. And that feeling goes right down to the core of their souls. When a woman looks at a rack of designer dresses, she vibrates with an almost orgasmic excitement. To put up a "Sale" sign in front of such women is to wave a red flag in front of a bull.

For men, if a pair of pants fits comfortably, that's good enough. So they will mail order to save themselves the trouble of a trip to the store. For women, they must fit perfectly. And they like to look at things in person, try things on, feel them, and smell them.  

For a man, an outfit is a way to stay warm and pass minimal muster. For a woman, it is personal validation.

Most men have no clue what is in fashion from one year to the next. Women will be able to tell you whether your clothes are current, passe, or "retro."

If you want to know what was in fashion thirty years ago, look at the clothes that 70-year-old men wear.

I've never heard of a guy who wears a suit once, then returns them to the store for a refund. And then repeats the process again, so he can look well-dressed.

What do you get when you tell a woman she has the national treasury of a country at her disposal? Imelda Marcos, with her 3000 pairs of shoes. Or Michelle Duvalier, with those roomfuls of expensive furs to keep her warm in Haiti. (Not that Ferdinand Marcos or Baby Doc Duvalier were any better.)

If a man buys something for the house, chances are that what he is replacing was broken. This is why you're likely to find men at Home Depot, or the local hardware store. If woman is shopping for something for the house, chances are that what she is replacing......just wasn't good enough. So you're more likely to find women at Crate and Barrel, or Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

After going to a foreign country, or just visiting a museum, women like to buy keepsakes. If they don't have a memento, to them it's as if the visit never happened. 

Women see shopping as a good way to spend an afternoon. Men see it as something to do on the way to something else, a chore.

Shopping simply doesn't stimulate the pleasure centers of men's brains; therefore it never occurs to them that they should deny that they enjoy it. Women, on the other hand, are forever maintaining that shopping is "hard work."

I once asked a woman where she was going, and she replied, "Shopping." When I asked what for, she said, "I'll know when I see it."

I've never heard a man say that.

"Shop, shop, shop till you drop" was not an expression coined for men.

Women justify shopping expenses by calculating how much they "saved" by not buying another item. This particular logic escapes most males. 

All of this is not to say that men don't waste money. They just tend to waste it all at once. On an expensive car. On a boat. At the race track. Or in a casino.

Not all men are like this; but not all women are as described above either.

Just the less intelligent members of each gender.