Hey everybody. I was wondering if you guys have noticed the boys and girls section at a Walmart lately. I have a son and I guess I never realized it until I was buying clothes for him but there is not a lot of boy stuff. Whenever a holiday that comes out it is most obvious. They have a ton of dresses and skirts for girls. The boys, they have a few shirts. That's it. Is it just me or my local Walmart that does this? Do you guys have a hard time buying boy clothes from Walmart? Does this make you mad like me?
I've never noticed that because my daughter and I have our own issues with the clothes. Why does Walmart only offer video game t shirts with Sonic the Hedgehog and other games for small boys? They make the same shirts in teen sizes that my daughter could wear but Walmart only carries video game shirts for small boys, so I end up ordering them online from one of the geeky t shirt sites and overpaying.
I have a daughter, I've noticed this too. I've also noticed that a size 2T in girls has SIGNIFICANTLY less fabric than a size 2T in boys. If you want to talk about sexism at Walmart, I have two friends that work there. They both got their jobs within weeks of each other, and the female friend makes about $0.45 less than the male, per hour. They work in the same department, do the same job, and have the same (none) experience. That's a little off putting I would say.
Perhaps, but I also think it may simply have to do with consumer demand for the products. They aren't going to waste floor space for items that are not selling regularly. If it's kids clothing, and it's just something like a black and orange shirt with a pumpkin on it that says something like Happy Halloween, wouldn't those more or less be gender neutral to begin with? I mean even though it's for sale in the girls section, doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't be worn by boys. Perhaps they just don't want to stock the same items in two different locations, or they didn't want to put the halloween shirts over near the halloween decorations, but rather decided to put them over near clothing instead.
I think that women and girls clothes are purchased more than men and boys clothing. If it is for smaller children, where both boys and girls are growing fast and will soon need new and larger clothes; then the selection is probably closer to the same amount of clothing for both boys and girls. However, as the children get older, it seems like girls (and their mothers) buy more of a variety of clothing than is purchased for boys. The same is true for adults, in my opinion. Men will buy shoes and clothes that fit, and be happy with them until they wear out. Women are always looking at new styles and pretty colors and just want new things to wear, even when the old clothes are perfectly usuable. If you shop at a thrift store, you will see that the ladies and girls sections are much larger than the men's and boy's sections, too.
I think OhioTom has it right. It's more about demand. Walmart is known for stocking the things that sell the most. The one by us used to have a huge selection of everything, but over the years, that's been pared down a lot to only top sellers. I really think it's based on the demographics they service rather than on sexism, as far as clothes go. I noticed in our area where there are a lot of retirees, we have more old people clothes and styles and the location in a bigger city has much more for teens, for example.
As much as I want to blame Wal-Mart for just about everything, in the case of differing clothes offerings, I imagine it's a case of supply and demand. It is our culture that is sexist, and Wal-Mart's buyers are savvy enough to take advantage of this. Kudos to the parents who are willing to dress their children for their personalities- not sexist norms. Eventually this will cut into the big stores' profit margins and they will get the hint.
A lot of stores are tweeked in that direction. Walmart just happens to be one of them. The one that totally ticks me off is Payless shoes. There is always a 2 for one sale going on for women, but us guys have to pay full price for one pair, period. That, my friend....is sexist.
No one likes criticizes Wal-Mart more than me. But I don't think this is a case of them being sexist. It's probably just likely that they don't sell a lot of boys clothing there. If they were getting a lot of requests for them to carry more boys clothes, they would likely do so. Since Wal-Mart seems to carry ever other hot item. It wouldn't make much sense for them to not carry something that is going to make them more profits.
No Wal-Mart is not sexist, because it's not a living breathing thing that can think for itself. Also, are you going to imply Victoria's Secret is sexist for selling only woman's clothes only?! I hope not, because this complaint was stupid from the get-go, OP. Wal-Mart, has intelligent marketers who know what sells and drives up profits through years of research, and females have been found by such marketing research to be higher consumers than their male counterparts, hence is the reason why there are more female products at stores, especially clothing areas.
Men's clothes are usually cheaper than women's and no, they stock as much for men as they do for the women's section. As mentioned, they are holding firm to the stereotype that men don't like to shop, don't care about their clothes and unfortunately, will wear a piece of clothing until it really should no longer be worn.
That kin of thing bothers me a lot more than the clothing discrepancies, and yet you see it all over . I think there is sexism going on for sure, in more ways than one.
Men and Boys clothing at all dept. stores is lacking. Even at Payless shoes, the women always have a 2 for 1 sale going on with volumes of shoes to pick from. Guys...full price and just a few pair. Same with Walmart. The women have isle after isle of stuff but the guys have got to pick from just a few shelves comparitively. But, that being said, we men have a habit of hoarding our clothes. They have to be nearly falling off of us in order for us to throw them away or turn them into rags. Women buy clothes pretty much because they like what they see and buy it whether they really need it or not. Supply and demand.
It's not only supply an demand, but what their suppliers can offer them. Girls grow faster than boys and as a result need to buy clothes more frequently. Also there are the trends that girls like to follow unlike boys. It's apparent in adult clothes too, the womens section is always bigger than the mens as women tend to buy more clothes than men. Even online and catalogs, you will see a smaller selection for boys than girls and the range of sizes too.
It's true. My ex had some favorite pairs of underwear that were way past their prime. I rarely saw him buy new clothes. Shopping does seem to be more of a female pastime.
I used to go through this all the time when my boy was little. I loved to shop at Walmart because they were cheap and had nice looking stuff. I would get infuriated walking through the girl's section and seeing all the colors and choices and then, the dull monotony of the boy's section. You are not alone. However, I believe most clothing stores that don't specialize in male clothing have this problem. Generally, female clothing are more abundant and have better pricing. Why? As a former retail store manager, I have a guess. I think it's a marketing ploy. Adult women are targeted by advertisers and retailers because they are more likely to spend money on fashion. So it makes sense to have lots of female children's clothing in stores because you get them in the habit of being shopaholics early on. Of course, babies aren't paying for their own clothing. But in general, moms are shopping for little girls, whom they want to make look pretty and dolled up. So you give them lots of choices so they have many things to spend money on. Once you are used to dressing your girls up, the habit continues to adulthood. Now we've groomed the next generation of consumers who will keep the fashion industry going. As for little boys, eh. There isn't so much pressure to have men or boys looking fashionable. Boys tend to play rough, make a mess and lose their things. You offer them simple, masculine color tones and a limited choice of clothing, they will buy out of necessity rather than out of desire. That's the logic in the retail world. I started to look elsewhere for clothing for my son. I purchased the staples from Walmart, underclothing and white tees. Simple jeans and slacks. But for fancier, more stylish pieces, I look to H&M (lot's to choose from on sale and the regular prices are decent), and I even find awesome things at thrift stores. The trick with thrifting is to look in a more high end neighborhood than your own. Rich people get rid of a lot of nice, name brand things! I also recommend off season sales at JC Penny or Sears. I found great stuff on sale at $2 and $3 for my boy, I would buy them a size or two bigger for him to fit when that season came back around. And Old Navy's clearance section is awesome for boy's stuff-just keep in mind their stitching quality isn't that great. You will get what you paid for. But who cares? Kids grow out of stuff so fast, by the time the clothes start to fall apart, he will have gotten plenty of wear out of it.
I kind of think that it's a reflection of the shopping dynamic (for good or for ill). Society tells us what types of presents that a boy should like and what types of things a girl should like. Ultimately, Wal-Mart is more likely simply reflecting the way that the broader retail market sees the demand, rather than shaping it themselves. It's kind of sad like that but I guess it's the way things are at the moment.
That's really funny! What is it about men and their underwear? My ex used to call it air conditioning when his developed holes. Did you ever see that Jerry Seinfeld standup bit about how men will wear their underwear until there was nothing left but whispy strings that would eventually float away out the window?
Have any of you guys ever noticed how when it comes to women's clothes - and it is not just one or two stores that do this, but most of the stores that you venture into - there are distinctions between plus size and 'normal' size? But when it comes to male clothing, all of the clothes are in the same part? Like, the XXL sizes are amongst the smaller and regular sizes? You have to notice things like this, and realize the reason behind it.
