My only female manager, Miss Jay, came up to me today very upset with what I had suggested to a customer. The customer, a young girl in her teens, asked my opinion on what she should buy for the first day of school. I led the girl over to the jeans section and also helped her pick out a nice sweater, one that was not too tight as I felt her parents might think it inappropriate for a 14-year-old to wear an ultra-fitted outfit. Miss Jay did not agree with my choice and quickly led the girl over the to the mini-skirt section that was reminiscent of Britney Spears’s clothing in her “Hit Me Baby One More Time” music video. Miss Jay then came up to me and asked what I was thinking when I suggested such a clothing choice. “Don’t you have the female intuition to know how a young girl wants to dress to impress boys?” she demanded. Ahh, I thought, so this is why the pictures scattered around A&F stores mainly show men – it is to ensure that female shoppers are aware of the male gaze and dress appropriately, thus upholding contemporary male standards of the “less is more” motto.
I guess I was born without this “female intuition” of knowing how women should dress, specifically to please men. Miss Jay, I had no idea I was innately meant to be programmed with a sense of what is fashionable. Miss Jay, don’t you think it’s problematic that such a prominent chain in the retail arena is teaching young girls to wear skimpy clothing? Miss Jay’s question reminded me of many other notions that surround women. How we are supposed to get married. How we are supposed to have children. Women who do not yearn for these things are automatically seen as “the other” because in not wanting the traditional life path of a woman, you are seen as somewhat unfeminine. What Miss Jay was saying when she asked me why I had chosen a conservative clothing choice for that teenage girl, was that I was not giving her feminine-enough advice.
After telling one of my female co-workers on my 15 minute break what had happened, she was unfazed. According to her, the world of retail was once referred to as “the old-boys’ club.” Since childhood, women are told what to adorn themselves in to achieve the male gaze. With such an emphasis put on this, for example, with Victoria Secret billboards and ad campaigns, the female shopping experience mainly revolves around what an admirer would like. This, clearly according to Miss Jay, should have resulted in a built-in female instinct that alerts me to whether or not a clothing item will be received positively by men. More on this tomorrow, right now I’m too exhausted from having to work overtime and close the store tonight.
