Women Spend Millions of Dollars

Every year, women spend millions of dollars on clothing, shoes, accessories, makeup, age-defying creams, plastic surgery, and the list goes on and on. They spend money and time shopping for clothes they don’t even need. Most women enjoy shopping, even if they don’t spend any money. It is a way to relax, and immerse oneself in a sea of material wealth and beauty with no strings attached. After a day of window shopping, women can return home with untouched wallets, and clear consciences. But even though their bank accounts are intact, the damage has been done. The desire remains. They may not have made any purchases, but they cannot walk out of that mall without regret, and the insatiable need for the satisfaction that they feel when surrounded by all the tempting items. This is why women go to the mall for the pure "joy" of it, and then torture themselves because they cannot have everything they want. It is a temporary fix, a "shopping high," satisfying them for the moment, but only until the next wave of desire causes them to rush back to the mall, or the outlet, hungry for the sights and smells of beauty for sale.

Why do these items excite so much longing within women? And why don’t men feel the same longing? The answer to these questions lies right before our eyes: from magazines in checkouts lanes, mannequins in department stores, and beautiful models and actresses all over television and film. Women are the sum of their appearance. Their clothes, hair, and make-up define how attractive they are, and ultimately, who they are. Men, with some exception, are judged by a whole different set of characteristics such as intelligence, education, and leadership ability that have nothing to do with physical appearance. So the question remains: where did this standard for female external beauty come from? Did women choose to suffocate themselves under corsets and yards of material in the name of beauty for hundreds of years? Do modern women cover their faces with heavy make-ups and lotions because they enjoy it? Or is there some other reason? Many credit the patriarchal attitudes toward women in 19th century society, and to some extent the present day, for this double standard. Through interpretation of Zola’s novel The Ladies Paradise, and an exploration into popular culture’s effect on modern day women, this discussion attempts to explain how female desire is shaped by the need to please men. It will also attempt to explain how this forces women to substitute clothing, sexuality, and money in place of their lost individuality and identity.

Women, the "weaker sex," have been dominated by men for centuries. Many of the behaviors that are now taken for granted as being "feminine," and natural in women, have no real basis in nature at all. Women's apparel is a good example of this myth. Feminine clothing is usually colorful, ornate, with complicated patterns and styles.