We've got a few. They're not national by any means and are downtown, but I know one is called Browns Men shoe store.
women's vs. men's departments
- Thread starter Rÿcher
- Start date
Did I claim it was mass market?
So Target has a bunch of cheap mens shoes and what college aged guys would buy? And who shops there predominantly?
Not Holdfast type of guys who want upscale shoes, so they don't have that. Duh.
I mean this whole theory is infuriating. It'd be like if I started a thread saying they only have advertisements of cleaning products featuring women because guys are too stupid to know how to use a toilet bowl wand or know what Pledge is for. I'd be just as mad at that, as I know quite a few men that are better at cleaning than women.
It's an awful stereotype and the fact that so few are calling on him really does point to what Officer was getting at in another thread before.
So Target has a bunch of cheap mens shoes and what college aged guys would buy? And who shops there predominantly?
Not Holdfast type of guys who want upscale shoes, so they don't have that. Duh.
I mean this whole theory is infuriating. It'd be like if I started a thread saying they only have advertisements of cleaning products featuring women because guys are too stupid to know how to use a toilet bowl wand or know what Pledge is for. I'd be just as mad at that, as I know quite a few men that are better at cleaning than women.
It's an awful stereotype and the fact that so few are calling on him really does point to what Officer was getting at in another thread before.
I am one woman who doesn't fit this ridiculous stereotype.
I absolutely detest buying shoes. At the moment I have one very worn pair of boots, two pairs of shoes, and a pair of sandals. I plan to buy a pair of thongs in the next couple of days.
I have never spend more than $40 on a pair of shoes.
I absolutely detest buying shoes. At the moment I have one very worn pair of boots, two pairs of shoes, and a pair of sandals. I plan to buy a pair of thongs in the next couple of days.
I have never spend more than $40 on a pair of shoes.
Rÿcher
Fleet Captain
There are all female gyms. Just about one on every street corner. I think they're #2 behind Starbucks per capita. Don't know about where where you live but around here there aren't any all male gyms.
Why is that, do you suppose? So women can feel comfortable working out without fear them men are checking them out? Get over yourselves and sweat a little.
Ever see yogurt or a breakfast cereal marketed toward men? Apparently only women need to watch their figures and their calorie intake levels. Ever hear about prostate cancer awareness month? Does prostate cancer have a ribbon?
We're just hairless apes.
Why is that, do you suppose? So women can feel comfortable working out without fear them men are checking them out? Get over yourselves and sweat a little.
Ever see yogurt or a breakfast cereal marketed toward men? Apparently only women need to watch their figures and their calorie intake levels. Ever hear about prostate cancer awareness month? Does prostate cancer have a ribbon?
We're just hairless apes.
There's two things here. First, that his particular branch of Target dedicates a lot more space to women's shoes than men's and children's. I don't think we can dispute that. (To me, that says there's more variety in the designs than anything else)
Then there's the idea that women spend too much money on shoes. That's not so good. So, there, consider Rycher called on it.
And they do have ads for cleaning products with men in them, it's just that usually those men are idiots who can't figure out what to do until a woman comes along.
Many of the better makers cater to (predominantly) male clientele. Men's shoes at the high-end tend to be as expensive as high-end ladies' shoes.
Examples of high-end shoemakers catering to mainly men: John Lobb Paris, Edward Green, Crockett & Jones, Artioli, Aubercy, Corthay, Berluti, JM Weston... I could go on.
It's actually quite hard for women to find durable and beautiful shoes like these. Some of those makers do have very limited ladies ranges but generally the ladies market is dominated by fashion marques. This is one area where Camelopard's earlier point about fashion vs durability being a difference between men and ladies rings very true (the other area is accessories - handbags and the like). The high-end mens shoes are arguably far better than the high-end ladies shoes, combining durability AND beauty.
So, how much do you guys spend on flat screen tvs, computer parts, gaming gadgets, cars, stereo systems, dvd collections etc... ?
And how come the ideal target audience for tv commercials is the young males if men just don't spend any money while women apparently throw it out the window 24/7?
I know (online know) a guy with hundreds of pairs of seriously high-end shoes. Most he hasn't worn yet. And he's still buying them.
I'm happy to say that nearly all my shoes are in regular rotation. There are a few seasonal ones though, and some more that are worn a bit more rarely. But most are worn regularly. I just like having options to mix & match with what I'm wearing. I don't think I've repeated the exact same outfit this year. A handful of very close repeats, I'm sure, but no exact dupes I don't think.
[/quote]We all have our obsessions.
The things I like to collect and spend lots of $$$ most people would think is silly.
Ideal, maybe, but that's not what they're getting. The ideal is young men because, in theory, they have the most "disposable" income.
I know (online know) a guy with hundreds of pairs of seriously high-end shoes. Most he hasn't worn yet. And he's still buying them.
I'm happy to say that nearly all my shoes are in regular rotation. There are a few seasonal ones though, and some more that are worn a bit more rarely. But most are worn regularly. I just like having options to mix & match with what I'm wearing. I don't think I've repeated the exact same outfit this year. A handful of very close repeats, I'm sure, but no exact dupes I don't think.
We all have our obsessions.
The things I like to collect and spend lots of $$$ most people would think is silly.
Rÿcher
Fleet Captain
Or the beefcake guy in the ad to appeal to the housewife (see Brawny)
I'd like to affirm that I AM NOT SEXIST though some of my comments in my initial post would lead you to believe the contrary. I do have somewhat misogynistic tendencies however which it could be argued is different from puerile sexism. Again, perpetuated by the mass media.
I think men and women are equal in all aspect and should be treated as equals in all aspects of society, the home and the work place. I also believe that a lot of women don't see it as blue sky as that and that men are pigs or as hairless who need women as their egos, their conscience, their moral center and without them we'd descend into chaos.
EDIT: I just looked up "misogyny". I defiantly used the wrong word.
*Nods* Targets ideal is young men who have the most disposable income, because they're not spending it all willy nilly on shoes at Target, which only stock women's shoes, because women waste all their money in Target buying shoes which... no I'm lost again now.
Quick edit:
[disclaimer]On the more serious issue which is threatening to spring up in this thread, I agree that there are certain horribly misandrist steoreotypes prevalent in advertising. I think stems from exactly the same source as institutionalised sexism against women, and that it's an awful pity when we set these stereotypes against each other in a "battle of the sexes" [ugh] instead of being allies.[/disclaimer]
Yeah, right
Women aren't paid less at all - we just spend it all and don't notice all the money go out of our bank accounts. How deliciously silly of us!My local branch of Payless shoes has as much room for men's shoes as it does for women's and children's. Which is good because I like to wear men's boots.
Advertising is never going to display a true equality in anything - advertising is all about short-cuts in images. The man in the garage, the woman in the kitchen. It ain't real and isn't meant to be - they have 30 seconds to sell their product and they don't want to distract your attention from what they are selling.
*Nods* Targets ideal is young men who have the most disposable income, because they're not spending it all willy nilly on shoes at Target, which only stock women's shoes, because women waste all their money in Target buying shoes which... no I'm lost again now.
I don't know who Target's target market is.
A TV network has a finite amount of advertising time in an evening, and they can sell that time for more money if they put on shows that appeal to the people the advertisers want to sell to. That's supposedly young men right now, so expect ads for video games, cars, electronics etc during programming aimed at men.
That's the theory. In reality, they just sell to whoever they can get because advertising rates aren't as good as they used to be and those products are better advertised elsewhere. You don't sell more video games through TV ads, especially.
In theory, what should happen is Target should be advertising the shoes they sell during programming aimed at women, with the ratings to back it up - if it is indeed true that women buy lots of shoes.
I have no idea if that's actually the case because I'm not able to watch American TV networks, but I doubt it somehow.
I know of a pregnancy test ad which is clearly directed at men. Now that one I wouldn't have expected.
How does that work ? Are you supposed to trick the woman in your life in to peeing on it or something ?
*Nods* Targets ideal is young men who have the most disposable income, because they're not spending it all willy nilly on shoes at Target, which only stock women's shoes, because women waste all their money in Target buying shoes which... no I'm lost again now.
Just to clear that up, with "target" I didn't mean the shop. Just "target" in the sense of "aim".
Also, I don't get why it is a problem that women are interested in fashion. We are supposed to be the pretty ones, after all. Men don't necessarily need to look "pretty" to be considered attractive.
Shoes make or break an outfit, heels will give a woman a better silouette, so why should we not be interested in such essential items for our attractiveness, eh?
*Nods* Targets ideal is young men who have the most disposable income, because they're not spending it all willy nilly on shoes at Target, which only stock women's shoes, because women waste all their money in Target buying shoes which... no I'm lost again now.
I don't know who Target's target market is.
A TV network has a finite amount of advertising time in an evening, and they can sell that time for more money if they put on shows that appeal to the people the advertisers want to sell to. That's supposedly young men right now, so expect ads for video games, cars, electronics etc during programming aimed at men.
That's the theory. In reality, they just sell to whoever they can get because advertising rates aren't as good as they used to be and those products are better advertised elsewhere. You don't sell more video games through TV ads, especially.
In theory, what should happen is Target should be advertising the shoes they sell during programming aimed at women, with the ratings to back it up - if it is indeed true that women buy lots of shoes.
I have no idea if that's actually the case because I'm not able to watch American TV networks, but I doubt it somehow.
I think young men are their key advertising target because they need to lure those men into the store. They've already succeeded in getting women to shop at Target - so to get women to buy more they just need to advertise those products (like all those shoes
) inside the store.Let's face it, it isn't an ideal world. Want to know what really annoys me? That toy shop online sites still divide toys into Boys and Girls toys! WTF? That, right there, is how these stereotypes get perpetuated.
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