Men, Women, and the Economy

It's been a while since I have made any controversial remarks about male/female differences, so it might be time for one of those entries.

I was just thinking about how different our lives would be if there were only guys in this world, besides the obvious of course. Consider that entire shopping malls would not exist. Anyone disagree with that? Walk into Marshall Fields and take a look around. The store is dominated by makeup counters, Coach purses, women's shoes, women's dresses (casual, formal, etc.), and Godiva chocolates. None of that is for men, now is it?

But, you might point out that there is a men's shoe section, men's apparel, men's fragrances, which are all for men. Well, that may be true, but I still believe that none of that would be there if there were no women in the world. Without a mother to bring us up, or hot chicks to impress, every single guy would end up wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, if even that much, I can almost guarantee you that.

Ok, so look elsewhere in the mall, what would you find? More women's clothes. The Build-a-Bear store. Jewelry shops. Some place selling freshly ground guava juice. Out of all the stores you typically find at shopping malls, I think only a few of these would exist if it was a men-only world. The Sharper Image, and Foot Locker, that's about it.

This doesn't only apply to malls, malls are just sort of a microcosm of the rest of the world. Women commonly claim that this society is so male-dominated, but I don't believe this is fully true. Ok, so maybe in terms of political and industrial power, men are still ahead for now. But when you think about it, this economy would be even further in the dumps if there were no women to buy stuff.

Speaking from a guy's perspective, I would say that my life is pretty simple and I don't need many things. Other than a fairly expensive car, I don't think I spend that much money on anything. I eat sandwiches every day for lunch. I have one pair of shoes for work, one pair of shoes for playing sports, and sandals for the summer. If it weren't for my sister and Olivia buying me stuff, I would probably still be wearing all my clothes from high school (when I was 6 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter). Then all I really do other than work is watch football, write blogs, or talk to people online. None of that really costs any money either. I used to at least buy Nintendo games and baseball cards.

Compare this to girls. I could write a whole long blog on how many shoes girls "need," but I'm sure others have already done that so I will spare you. Not only shoes though, it's coats, hats, sunglasses, earrings, jeans, black pants, gray pants, sweaters, rings, etc. Too much is never enough.

Or you could think of it in terms of drinks when you go out to a bar or club. Guys drink beer - $4 or 5 bucks a pop at most. Girls don't like beer (typically), that means $10+ mixed drinks, amaretto sours, midori sours, long island iced teas and the lot.

Basically, because of girls, we can't all walk around in just our underwear, watch TV, and eat Taco Bell or McDonalds every day. We gotta be "cultured" and attend musicals, eat at French restaurants once in a while, buy jewelry, and shop at the Hallmark store now and then. Our clothes have to look "presentable."

I guess I am not a very good active consumer in this American economy. I would feel bad for not contributing more of my disposable income in this time when businesses need it, but honestly, it wouldn't bother me at all if jewelry shops and Hallmark stores went bankrupt in this world. Those are such bogus industries to begin with, taking advantage of helpless boyfriends and husbands around the country. Flower shops are aiiiight though, they can stay, because they are usually run by nice, sweet hometown ladies who like flowers, instead of being a multi-million dollar corporate giant.