subject: Women And Fashion - Is It An Obsession? [print this page] Stereotypes plague us in every area of lifeStereotypes plague us in every area of life. Whether it's gender, age or nationality stereotypes, they're present in all areas. But, as is the case almost all of the time, they really are often completely irrelevant, have a tendency to over-generalise and can be proven wrong time and time again.
But what about the age old stereotype about women and their clothes shopping habits. You've probably seen the magazine articles or the cartoon comic strips showing a frustrated looking boyfriend left carrying ludicrous numbers of shopping bags, led through shopping centres by his fashion addicted shopaholic girlfriend. In fact, even the film and TV industry capitalise on these stereotypes, playing up to them time and time again.
The question remains, how much truth is there in this stereotype? If we take all our education from "The Devil Wears Prada" and the like, then what we will essentially be led to believe is that the average woman spends just about all of her free time perusing catalogues, shopping online and talking with her friends about the latest "gorgeous" Jimmy Choos she's just bought/wants/must have/must make her husband buy.
That would of course be a gross generalisation and clearly, a massive misrepresentation of the truth. There is a clear and ever-growing male presence in the fashion industry as men become more and more targeted, which surely tells us that fashion isn't a women-only thing.
Of course, how you define an "obsession," is also up for debate. If someone genuinely enjoys immersing themselves in fashion, whether as a writer, a shopper or even just a browser, is that really "obsession?" Or, is it, in actual fact, a healthy interest and concern about how we dress? Whether we'd call it an obsession or a hobby, though, the simple fact of the matter remains that then idea that fashion as a hobby or interest is restricted purely to women is hideously out of date in the twenty-first century.
