NYTimes: What Do Women Want? Just Ask

Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2006-10-30 16:20

'More companies, in the United States and elsewhere, have realized that they overlook women at their own financial peril.'

And there's no financial peril in overlooking male consumers?

Essay here.

You know, it seems the NYTimes has gotten a case of multiple personality disorder when it comes to gender-issues reporting. It seems some of their writers are fully aware of the negative impact of feminism and at other times, celebrate it. I can only imagine what one of their editorial meetings looks like.

I recall reading similar kinds of articles on the purchasing power of women that had been published back in the 1920s. The same point was made even then about how women make most of the household purchase decisions-- in households where they lived with men (back then, it was presumed, to men to whom they were married).

But I wonder how this formula changes when you add current trends of single-habitation, which now outnumbers married or co-habitation in terms of U.S. household composition? It seems to me the only real significant change in the formula is that women are working now in fields they didn't back then, but their control of money has stayed the same in the context of married relationships: he makes the money, she spends it, even if she also makes money, too.

Overall though, the message of such stories is clear, any way you slice it up: what "the ladies" want is important; what "the guys" want isn't.

Excerpt:
'Shane Homes is hardly alone. More companies, in the United States and elsewhere, have realized that they overlook women at their own financial peril. The companies are realigning their marketing and design practices, learning to court an increasingly female-centric consumer base that boasts more financial muscle and purchasing independence than ever before.

“We are perhaps on the first step to a matriarchal society; women will earn more money than men if current trends continue by 2028,” said Michael J. Silverstein of the Boston Consulting Group. “The trend has been escalating in the last 10 years as there has been a gradual, slow erosion of the power balance in the family, a psychic rebalancing.”

Women, Mr. Silverstein added, are “controlling purchases and driving a shift in our economy.”'

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From the article -- "Retailers like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Sears, Best Buy and others recognize that women are running their households like purchasing managers."

So, now that women are "managing" the domestic front -- which I thought was their desire all along -- what are the benefits for men?

Do we get more free time to go fishing and hunting and watch sports and go to strip bars while our domestic executive mistresses are stepping up to the challenges of "managing" the homefront?

Nope.

Because she will insist that you go along with her to buy the new countertop tile, the much-needed expansion to the deck, the gotta-have-it-because-have-you-seen-what-the-neighbors did? -- sunroom addition?

A man married to one of these domineering managers has to face a double-shift of subservience --

one at work, another at home.

There is no longer any sanctuary for men in this institutionalized Matriarchy.

Well, maybe if you're willing to become homeless and live under a bridge.

That's where all the MRA philosophers hang out now.

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Submitted by Roy on Mon, 2006-10-30 16:51

I do not read the N.Y. Times, but if they have even just a couple articles in modern times which in any way goes against or even questions feminist dictates, that is a tremendous improvement over the past. As Warren Farrell has noted, the Times has been an extreme bastion of feminism and has been highly influential in this regard, spreading propaganda and lies; it cannot be overestimated how much harm it has done to men and other non-feminists. As it is the nation's most-watched newspaper, all other U.S. papers (and even TV news) takes its queue from the front page of the Times.
This Silverstein guy sounds like one of those "new paradigm" fanatics..likes to start a bunch of hype. And if women are the 'purchasing managers' of houses, it is probably usually their husband's income they are spending, since the man is working too many hours to have time to manage the finances - he is happy to turn over that responsibility to his wife. Of course there becomes a vicious cycle, since the woman will "need" more and more money (and credit) for extravagent purchases such as home decorating, etc.
-Axolotl

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Submitted by axolotl on Tue, 2006-10-31 01:22