Shopaholics

I would really love to know what percentage of women are obsessed with shopping. The media would have us think that it's something like 95%. I am disgusted by how often this backwards stereotype is used in advertising. Sometimes when I'm listening to the radio or watching TV it doesn't feel as though we're in the 21st century. Not when the typical woman is portrayed as an incurable shopaholic. It seems like every other commercial is a variation on this theme.

This phenomenon has been upsetting me for some time, but the latest Kohl's ads have really brought it to life for me. They have this new stupid TV commercial where the woman is removing useful things from the garage in order to make way for Kohl's new sale weekend. A similar ad on the radio has the woman waking up really early on a weekend. Rather than using her time productively, she's dragging the man to the Kohl's sale. JC Penneys and Sears have similar commercials where the women want to spend entire days at the store shopping. Visa is partaking in this as well. Their new ad about some contest where you can get all your '04 purchases paid for features a woman who's been buying tons of (useless) stuff behind her husband's back.

I think I'm going to boycott Kohl's. Not that I ever shop there, but still. It's the principle that counts.

Maybe it's the feminist or the tomboy in me, but I can't imagine that I'm the only one that's bothered by the constant use of the woman-as-manic-shopping-machine image. What is the new generation of girls supposed to look up to? We're teaching them that all they have to look forward to as adults is shopping! Forget about getting an education girls. All you'll be doing is begging your husband for money to go shopping. This seems so 50 years ago!

Perhaps it's not even a women's issue. Maybe this is just a reflection of the value that our society places on materialism. Are people so vapid that all they look forward to is acquiring goods? The thought is utterly disheartening.