Society Segmentation by Gender Issues
In the modern society, men and women use different approaches to meet their needs for various products and services. As such, society segmentation caused by the issue of gender is widely increasing. For example, when one walks into a retail store, it becomes instantly clear which sections are set for women and for the men. In many stores, it is equally dramatic for men to shop in the same way that matches the female shoppers. This implies that despite it being a fact that all people are created equally, gender is creating a sub-divide in the society where men and women are taking sociological aspects of life from a different perspective. To understand better on how the society is segmented by gender, this paper focuses on presenting observational findings showing the way gender is splitting up the society in the various locations. The paper is based on an observation that was made in a visit to a retailing store where different people do their shopping for different needs and desires.
According to Healey (2014), in many countries, the issues of gender and sexism remains a national agenda, as the two components create separations within the society in which one gender is viewed to be special over the other one. In the leading retailing stores across the world, the difference brought by gender is mostly observed in fashion consumption, as the products reflect the stores’ characteristics and behaviors between men and women.
Observation 1
From the observation that I made, I noticed that people visiting the local retail stores include people from the female and male gender, people between 15 and 35 years old, and individuals from a diverse cultural background. An important aspect that I noticed about the people visiting the retail stores is that they are either people of the same family or friends, especially the young adults. The people in the stores were doing different things such as buying products of their choice and socializing purposes with majority of them being women.
This difference creates a social construction, where the society believes that men lack the interest to shop fashion products and women see the task of shopping for fashion products as a way of acquiring society identity. With this perspective becoming a key social trend, men have entrusted women with the responsibility of shopping for clothes for the whole family. A study done by Healey (2015) demonstrates that 67% of women enjoy shopping in the retailing shop, while only 37% of men who feel attached to the shopping activities. The same study reveals that women are more likely buy fashion products and gifts in the retailing shop than men (Healey, 2015). From this study, it is evident that due to the aspect of gender differences, the society is giving women more responsibilities relating to the accomplishment of their needs and desires of other people in the society.
I noted that the gender influence to people going to the retail shop is that majority of the people shopping for fashion products were women and men had few shopping responsibilities. In an observation that I made in a local retailing store, the difference between women and men defines the interest of each gender in fashion products. In this essence, it is noted that gender determines the different characteristics of men and women in shopping fashion products.
Observation 2
The group of people who I observed going to the retailing stores were from the female and male sexes. The groups were in the age group of 25-40, and most of them were wearing official attires and others casual attires. The majority of the people visiting the retailing stores seemed to be from one family, as they were either two or four. Men were mostly shopping, while women were shopping and socializing. A majority of men go to the local shopping centers with the aim of buying products that can meet their needs. On the other hand, women go to retailing centers to buy their desired products and browse around, which makes them see shopping as an enjoyable activity that gives them a new experience to live in the society. In this case, it is obvious that people are no longer brought together in the retailing centers with a common purpose, which has made men become a bit reluctant to visit the retailing joint frequently.
From the look of the behavior of many people visiting the retail stores, I observed that the issue of gender is influencing the customer’s behavior in which many women do not only visit the retailing centers to shop but also to carry out their personal activities. Scanlon (2000) contends that today, most of the retailing stores are not created equally, with most of them focusing on becoming class stratified. Most retail stores are establishing themselves to serve a particular group of people, especially women as the key members of the society attached to the task of shopping responsibilities.
With a clear understanding on the issue of gender and the way it is influencing the society and its social setting, one can use different approaches to balance the gender issues and social settings. Sociologists such as Durkheim, Marx, and Webers have identified various theories and ideas that people can use to deal with human behaviors and social interaction factors (Brinkerhoff, Weitz, & Ortega, 2013). For this study, the core theoretical perspective in sociology that is analyzed is the structural-functional theory, with the aim of showing how the society can use this approach to keep the society in an orderly manner. Brinkerhoff, Weitz, and Ortega (2013) outline that the structural-functional theory addresses the social or society organizations and the way it works or functions. The theory is significant to people trying to answer the question of the structure of the society and the way the society functions.
Before using the structural-functional theory in dealing with the gender and its influence to people doing their shopping in the retailing centers, it is important to consider the nature and consequences of this social structure. According to the theory, for the society to shop in an orderly manner despite the influences of gender, both men and women should develop a closer relationship with each other, as this will manifest functions encouraging men to visit shop regularly and explore new experience through shopping just like what women are doing (Brinkerhoff, Weitz, & Ortega, 2013). Therefore, it is clearly open that the theory will benefit both groups, which will be essential in bringing stability and harmony in the society (Sztompka, 2013). The use of the structural-functional analysis to examine the gender issues as a social pattern benefiting one group is relevant, as one can see that the approach assists the society to maintain a balanced status without any latent dysfunction or negative consequences.
This paper analyses how the society is segmented by gender, with the presentation of significant observations concerning the shopping behaviors of both men and women in the society. The area selected for the analysis is the retailing stores, as most of the people will find themselves visiting the retailing centers to buy different products that meet their needs. Therefore, in the shopping of fashion products, gender is dividing the society. From the observations that were made, the paper portrays the task of shopping fashion clothes has become part of women responsibilities with the society having a perspective that beholds men as individual with no interest in the shopping of fashion products. The paper also posits that shopping has become part of women behavior where women go to retailing shop for other purposes such as exploring new experience and enjoy themselves. Finally, the paper incorporates the theory of structural-functional to the gender issues, with the theory suggesting that a closer relationship between men and women.
References
Brinkerhoff, D. B., Weitz, R., & Ortega, S. T. (2014). Essentials of sociology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning
Healey, J. F. (2014). Diversity and society: Race, ethnicity, and gender. Los Angeles: SAGE
Scanlon, J. (2000). The gender and consumer culture reader. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Sohail, M. S. (2015). Gender differences in mall shopping: A study of shopping behavior of an emerging nation. Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behavior in Emerging Markets, 1(1), 36-46.
Sztompka, P. (2013). Sociological dilemmas: Toward a dialectic paradigm. New York: Academic Press.
