What the Man Aisle?!
By Christiana Paradis
What’s the best way to stereotype all men without even speaking? Enter the “Man Aisle.” Recently, the grocery store Westside Market in Manhattan’s Upper West Side created New York City’s first “Man Aisle.” Advertised as “everything men need,” the new aisle originally began as a joke, argues owner George Zoitas.
So what exactly is included in this shopping aisle that is everything men need? Beef jerky, condoms, razors, Doritos, salsas, and water. It’s perfect to “stock up your man cave” as the New York Post proclaims. The owner attempts to justify this aisle, arguing that “guys don’t like taking lists when they go shopping. This helps them remember what they need.”
What they need? According to this, the Westside Market assumes that all men do is eat, have sex, and shave as their only source of hygiene. This is blatantly offensive to men. What about men who go to the grocery store because they want to cook a meal for their wife, children, or partner? What about men who spend more of their time outdoors than watching sports and eating chips and salsa? Would they find “everything men need” in this aisle? What about women who use condoms as their primary means of birth control…would condoms be in a “Female Aisle” if it was created? Chances are probably not.
According to a 2011 Chicago Tribune report, beginning in 2009 large retail stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and Walgreens began testing the notion of aisle specifically dedicated to men in an attempt to make the shopping experience easier and more enjoyable. However, it is important to note there is a difference between placing body lotions and shampoo in the same aisles versus what other people’s stereotypical views of what men need are.
Jill Krasny on BusinessInsider.com argued that this“might be the most backhanded slap at consumers we've ever seen. Just what were marketers thinking when they rolled out man aisles?" she wrote. "Oh yeah, they were thinking about capitalizing on the recessionary trend of more men buying groceries than women.
If we continue to perpetuate gender stereotypes then we won't get anywhere. We need to stop putting men and women in tiny little boxes to determine all of the traits, likes and dislikes. Why not put make-up in the Man Aisle? Some men wear make-up, some men get pedicure and manicures on a regular basis, but will we find these types of products in this aisle? Of course not. We as a society and activists need to stop endorsing in gender stereotypes and encourage others to do the same or they will only persist.