So I just got back from Target to pick up a calculator for one of my classes, and I stopped over in office supplies to pick up a few items like post-it notes and what not. I followed the sign that said "Home Office". I don't know if it meant Home/ Office or actually Home Office, but it was the only sign for office stuff so that's where I went. The weirdest thing though was that once I got there and started looking around I noticed that everything was pastel or sparkly or covered in kittens or stars. So not only was it feminized, but it was also very child-like.
I stood there in mild confusion for a moment wondering if I had meandered into the wrong section. As a marketing student with a feminist bent I could not help but try to figure out the motivation behind this theme-ology.
My first thoughts were that since more women are starting home businesses now, the powers that be are marketing home office supplies towards women. Then I thought about that and I know for myself I still want to present a professional image and be surrounded by professional looking stuff as a student and WAHP (that's Work-At-Home-Parent), as we do need to interact with others in our profession. But the more I looked at the wares presented the more I couldn't help but wander why everything looked so child-like. It's something to ponder. The only notebooks I could find that looked plain, for example costs nearly twice as much as their sparkly counter parts, or they had TV characters on them. I'm all for whimsy in ones daily life but we should at least have a choice as to what kind of whimsy and how much, and when it comes to office supplies why are the non-whimsical items so hard to find?
Maybe there is a rash of 12-14 year old girls who are starting their own businesses that I don't know about.
In the end I walked out with a small spiral notebook covered in sparkly flowers, rainbows and butterflies. No kidding. I picked it because it cost less. But I was reeeeeeeally close to paying more for the plain one just for the principle of the matter.
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2 comments:
Well, you have to remember that it's back-to-school season, so the office supply section is likely to be stocked with more kid-friendly designs right now.
Add to that the fact that Target's business shtick is about bringing trendy hipster styles for less money. For no-frills supplies you might have better luck checking out Office Depot or someplace like that.
I was going to say the same thing: You got sucked into the dread back-to-school vortex of sparkly kitten superheroes notebooks and stuff.
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