The Experts Have Figured Out Why I Hate Shopping!

[Elessar]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal ... pstoryview

My favorite part, describes me COMPLETELY:

Men do enjoy shopping when they get to "hunt" for a specific item, whereas women enjoy "grazing" for items. This goes back to our hunting and gathering days, when losing focus could mean losing the week's meal.

"Men are much more task-oriented," says Robert Schwarz, a psychologist and director of the Mars and Venus Counseling and Wellness Center in Haverford, Pennsylvania. "They hunt it, they kill it, they buy it and they go out."

Except when it comes to gun stores. I'll graze all day long.

[TPoptarts]

That's one huge pile of BS.

Just another sore attempt at applying "traditional" gender roles men are "hunters" and women stay home and cook. What the frell ever. I mean like with the shopping stuff for example they didn't even give like a pseudo-biological half-assed "excuse" other than using the stereotypical "traditional" gender roles that went out of fashion like a thousand years ago when booze shortage apparently caused a large percentage of the population to sober up and say "what the FRELL were we thinking". People are just different it's impossible to generalize and say all the men are like this and all the women are like that.

And men so totally do shop in the "grazing" aspect they shop for stuff that interests THEM. Me I TOTALLY can't stand shopping. My mother likes shopping for clothes and jewelry and look at furniture and house decoration stuff like small sculptures and whatever. And like she would get stuck at those shops like forever. And my father would wait outside and roll his eyes and complain like why it takes so long. And SO WOULD I because I think that's so totally boring and I really think that's a waste of time. Now when there's like an electronic store or cameras and stuff my FATHER would lose himself there and my mother would be the one yelling at him to leave the store already. (Well she's like a total technophobe so she has no clue about all that stuff)

Me I don't shop. I buy what I need and if I have enough money I buy stuff I really want but could still live without. But I don't "graze" and I don't go around looking for stuff to buy if I don't need or wanna buy anything. I think it's like totally pointless and boring. And like yeah I might look around the electronic store for a little while because hey I think it's interesting but I'd get all bored like after a few minutes because I'm just not the kinda person who would buy something just because it's being sold if I didn't have intentions to buy that stuff in the first place. How "manly" of me

Um and who exactly were their "test subjects" when they decided that women have less body fat than men on their upper bodies and waists. Because I'd sure as hell wanna participate and balance THAT out.

And don't get me started about the chick flicks. My cramps are more enjoyable than that dren. If the plot is all pukingly lovey-dovey sugary fluff then they BETTER all get blown up. By a spaceship. During a car chase. The only reason they're called "chick flicks" is because "horror film" was already taken.

Sorry for the rant. I just really hate the discriminatory stereotypical "traditional" gender roles and I hate it when people make gross generalizations like that under a mask of "reputation" and "professionalism" and basically say that I'm supposed to be something I'm not without even knowing anything about me and who I really am.

Oh yeah I AM female BTW.

[panyasan]

I am a female hunter-shopper too. Just go to a shop, have a look around and get your stuff. In and out in a couple of minutes. I like to shop alone too. The only thing I like is the coffee-break.
The only place I really like to look around is IKEA. The coffee is free there as well...

[JadziaKathryn]

And men so totally do shop in the "grazing" aspect they shop for stuff that interests THEM.

This is true. Elessar kindly provided proof:

Except when it comes to gun stores. I'll graze all day long.

The thing is, I will happily "graze" in clothing racks, where most men's eyes start to glaze over. Then again, I could care less about, say, plasma screen TVs, which would get some men just about drooling.

There's a difference with sales, too. If I (and a lot of other women) see a sale, I will go peruse and look for a good deal. Should I find one, I tend to buy it regardless of my level of need. A man is more likely to say, "I need a new shirt. Next time there's a sale I will go get one." He's in and out with his new shirt.

But, Tpoptarts, I think that something can be generally true of men vs. women without applying to every single person. Statistically, a lot more women than men enjoy shopping for clothes. In the broad sense, it's true, but not for every specific person. I don't think that makes it outdated gender roles, personally. A lot more women than men wear eyeliner, but I don't. That doesn't invalidate the general principle or make it outdated, IMHO.

[justTripn]

I hate shopping, but I am probably the exception that proves the rule.

I'm also making the trek to the Texas Star Party with a group of older men. And we plan to HUNT for deep sky objects every night. He, he .. . OH!!! And my telescope just got a ride to the party. YES!!!! WHEE!!! It's going down in a van with three other scopes!

Speaking in generalities: Men tend to like amateur astronomy more than woman.

But there is no telling in advance where a particular man or woman will fall on the bell curve relative to "normal" for anything.

[Asso]

I LOVE SHOPPING!
BUT... ALSO MY WIFE!
SO, I LOVE SHOPPING A LITTLE BIT LESS!
MONEY FLIES AWAY!

[JadziaKathryn]

MONEY FLIES AWAY!

So true!

[Lady Rainbow]

For me, it depends on what I'm shopping for and why. I don't hate it as much as I used to when I was a kid. Then again, my mom was a grazer supreme, and I always ended up trailing along carrying her packages. LOL.

If I'm in a bookstore or craft store, all bets are off. I like shopping for others, but I'm not all that fond of doing it for myself. There will be times when I graze, and other times when I know exactly what I what, where it is and I'll just go in and get it.

My hubby, on the other hand...he'll compare prices and reviews till the cows come home. No such thing as him going in and getting something, unless he's done all his research. I guess he's somewhat out of the "norm", but everyone's different in a way. LOL

[Alelou]

But there is no telling in advance where a particular man or woman will fall on the bell curve relative to "normal" for anything.

And there's the heart of it.

Plus you can change. After volunteering in a thrift store for awhile I began to realize that if I needed something it would show up eventually and be wicked cheap too, so I stopped shopping except for food and the occasional thing you don't really want to buy in a thrift shop, like underwear. I hadn't stepped in a department store for years, and I didn't miss it at all.

Now I'm not volunteering there anymore, and the need to actually go out and actively shop for a pair of pants or a pair of shoes is really annoying.

[Linda]

I am a selective grazer - when the stores have products that interest me. Then I can be a commited hunter-shoper, when I need something for a project I am in the middle of and hunt it down in a logical fashion. And there are times I absolutely hate shopping - when it is crowded. Because I get desperately irritated when jostled about by people and since I am relatively short, cannot see over people to scan for the items I am looking for!

[Asso]

Yes, but when I'm looking for something I want... it's the end!

[Distracted]

I graze at book stores. Everywhere else I hunt, and only when I'm hungry or I really need something. My husband likes that about me. I think I'm the only physician's wife in town who's just as likely to be wearing something from Walmart as from Coldwater Creek.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I hate shopping! I only go shopping when I have to and then I do a lot of it so I don't have to go shopping again for a while, like for clothes. I know what and when I want something and then I go out and get it.

The only thing I "graze" for are books or DVDs, and I've really cut down on that since I have little space left. And nowadays I mostly buy those things online.

Following another person (significant other, family member, friend) around who is shopping is absolute torture! Ugh!

[TPoptarts]

Statistically, a lot more women than men enjoy shopping for clothes. In the broad sense, it's true, but not for every specific person. I don't think that makes it outdated gender roles, personally. A lot more women than men wear eyeliner, but I don't. That doesn't invalidate the general principle or make it outdated, IMHO.

...and why do you think THAT happens?? It's the media (and in turn the society affected by it) that shapes people this way and not some kinda physiological thing that makes women wanna shop for clothes and wear makeup. It highlights and exaggerates female sexuality and advocates this "self consciousness" and puts a really heavy emphasis on female looks. Men too, but like WAY less. I personally hate shopping for clothes and I hate makeup, I only wear makeup when I have to like on set and stuff. But it's not interesting to me in the least. Being dragged with my mother to shop for clothes was so totally torturous and boring because I really felt like I had nothing to do there, and my mother would shop for HOURS and GAH. Of course it was made even worse by the fact that my mother wanted ME, a decidedly non-shopper, to actually shop for clothes for myself when I really didn't need or want anything new, and EVEN WORSE with her yelling at me for having a different taste in clothes than her and it's embarrassing to go shopping with me and what do we go shopping for if I can never find like "normal" clothes that human beings wear because obviously the clothes I liked were like totally out of the question oh and then she would yell at me and punish me for never wearing the clothes SHE picked for me which I totally hated of course, and she'd be all like why did I spend so much money on clothes for you and you don't even wear them!! What the frell. Um, ahem. I'm not the one who wanted to go shopping in the first place.

[justTripn]

I graze at book stores. Everywhere else I hunt, and only when I'm hungry or I really need something. My husband likes that about me. I think I'm the only physician's wife in town who's just as likely to be wearing something from Walmart as from Coldwater Creek.

Not only a physician's wife, but a physician, in which case I think it makes perfect sense. You are NOT a frivolous person.