Consumerism's Service To Women's Self-Expression & Its Disservice To Men
Self-image is a cognitive structure that is used to interpret one’s experiences. It is broken into three different types:
- The Actual Self: How people realistically perceive themselves
- The Social Self: How people think they are perceived by others
- The Ideal Self: How they would like to be perceived by themselves and others
Much of all we do consciously or subconsciously is an attempt to reach the desired ideal self. To meet this goal, there are surrogates and crutches which a person leans on and are often extended by one’s possessions. What this means in the context of consumerism is that a product and especially a brand may be selected because it is believed to be consistent with one’s current self-image and is instrumental in helping a person inch more towards their desired ideal self.
This is referred to as the Extended Self and is the point at which one’s identity and consumption get linked.
From the colour you buy to the texture you are attracted to, are all your own ways of building your individuality, piece by piece. These are opportunities for self-expression and are also used to measures one’s self-worth. That I deserve a softer fabric over something so harsh, or that purple colour speaks in a way that red never will, or this perfume is too sweet for me, are decisions made on the basis of a perceived self-image.
Time and again, researchers have explained a deep and unshakeable role of gender in determining self-image and consumption; and there is a significant difference in the way men and women consume. While they have been systematically created by society and industry, gender, that is masculinity and femininity, is a psychological trigger that has facilitated this consumerism with ease. Let me mention that sex is a biological designation (the one you are born with — male/female) and gender is a social implication (the one you want to live with –man/woman/neither/both).
In order to demonstrate the extent of this difference between consumption between men and women (in India), I looked at the products one would use on a daily basis, on their body that aid their desired levels of masculinity and femininity.
Zoom in for a better display.
Men, on a day-to-day basis:
And here’s presenting products for the other gender (on a day-to-day basis).
It’s not news, but a vivid display hits differently.
Why is this important?
This is not to talk about the potential that the men’s consumerism sector has (which it has) or how brutal the women’s consumerism is (which it is), but from a self-concept perspective, there might be something positive at play here for women. Shocker.
Women have extended their self-image to a series of products and brands. There are at least a thousand ways in which women can feel slightly different and better about themselves. Which, with sufficient empowerment, they also have the option to willfully eliminate. The problem is, for men, the options are rather minuscule and less flexible at that.
There is an argument that glorifies self-image comfort in men leading to minimal needs. But it is not so simple and actually, the opposite might be true. The average man does not even explore. In a best-case scenario when there is equal opportunity for men and women to make choices, men find themselves limited to self express only within their set structure. The desired self-image of masculinity holds them back.
This is especially true when other products are bucketed as feminine and masculine. For example, kitchen appliances, home decors, cosmetics are traditionally feminine product concepts; whereas automobiles, finance, beers, real estate are masculine. However, markets are seeing a shift in the traditionally masculine product categories as they are being quickly adopted by women. But the reverse is not true. The average man’s hesitation towards stepping into a home-decor showroom that can better life in an emotionally gratifying way could be a testament. Women, on the other hand, are more comfortable being masculine. The androgynous dressing trend, increase in women buyers for automobile and real estate, is a validation to how quickly they are breaking away from the set patterns.
Self-image combined with gender identity not only influences the product and brand choices but in turn is shaped by them. As the world progresses towards embracing gender diversity in conversations and policies, we find the scope for constructive self-expression rather abandoned in Indian men.
As Grayson Perry writes in The Descent of Man, “the world would be a better place if men were allowed to be more sad.”
I think, men ordering pink-coloured, watermelon martini without feeling judged, would be a great start.
—
[A lot of what is written here has been informed by an excellent paper retrieved from The Association for Consumer Research called Males, Masculinity, and Consumption: An Exploratory Investigation by Allan J. Kimmel and Elisabeth Tissier-Desbordes, which was published in 1999. It is still so relevant.]
