I do not like to shop. I am a woman and I do not like to shop. Shopping does not fill me with a sense of accomplishment, nor do I marvel at the miracle that is capitalism. I do not revel in my middle-class standing, not do I find “the thrill of the hunt” an enjoyable afternoon activity. However, none of the above excludes me from feeling the overwhelming pressure to conform to society’s standards of feminism and consumerism. Nor do the above qualities mean that, in this contemporary society where you may very well be arrested for trying to trade a pair of pants for nice roast, may I be excluded from having to shop. Thus, Meaghan Morris’s essay, “Things To Do With Shopping Centres,” forces me to confront the reality that, as much as I would like to purchase everything from home via internet and catelog, I will inevitably have to face the looming hoards of shoppers and the sweeping cement and laminate structures of the shopping centre.
First and foremost, I would like to raise the question of equity. Morris raises the issue of accessibility to shopping centres, stating that, “women who don’t come in cars to shopping centres spend much more time in them than those that do” (397). I find this a curious phenomenon because I wonder if this is because lower economic groups of women are spending more time purchasing, or if they are spending more time looking for sales in order to acquire goods within their means, or if they are simply spending time with friends “window shopping.” What does this statement actually say about women from lower socio-economic classes? And to the contrary, what does it say about women from higher socio-economic groups? Morris also mentions that the “users” of shopping centres are not just those who go to purchase, but also the employees of these centres. In the category of “users,” Morris also notes that youth, seniors, and other “marginalized” (and I use the term delicately) groups utilize these “sites” as places for social gatherings. Given that the transient population within these centres is so diverse, would it not be useful to examine the phenomena that occur within as an expression or specialized representation of society, as opposed to an “Eden” or “paradise” where capitalism offers up the proverbial apple? Does the microscopic view of society not then, by necessity, reflect the pre-existing worldviews and culturally relevant myths within? If the purpose of these “complex economic” structures is to lure and seduce the general public into a trance, and assuming that they are successful, then the larger issues are economic and social discourses that facilitate the seduction.
Despite my disdain for the shopping centre, I am well aware of my inability to escape it. I, in the face of my cerebral ideological opposition, am required and expected by society to conform, not only to capitalism, but to my gender and the subscribed expectations that womanhood bears. My parent’s version of a Bah mitzvah was being able to go to the shopping centre by myself when I was 13 years old. When one is so socialized in the structure and myth surrounding shopping centres, it is difficult to step aside and examine these centres as myth-making and ideology producing institutions, as undeniable as it may be.
