Free Essay on Gender Differences in a Video Store
The difference between male and females
was examined in five investigations in a large, well known video store chain.
Different genders were looked at in groups of all male or all female, single men
and single women, and then groups of mixed gender. Differences between the two
were measured in actions, words, and attitudes. The findings were in sync with
what society generalizes so broadly as: men and women differ in everything they
do. The research was conducted not to prove this familiar concept wrong but to
show how men and women differ in a general setting of a video store. The data
was quite rich in that the customers did not hold back what needed to be said
and actions tended not to be restricted. The findings revealed that not only do
men and women pick out different movie titles but they go about the whole
process differently as well.
The belief that men and women differ in
practically
everything they do is widespread throughout the United
States. There have been many studies on how they differ in certain aspects,
which never seem to be a surprise to the reader. We are so used to findings that
prove time and again the differences that we are ready to offer up a proposal
such as a professor of mine once said ?If you find in your setting that there is
not a difference between men and women then that is something that needs to be
published right away.? However, in the setting of the video store gender
differences were found.
Investigating the male-female relationship in a
video store has a few different aspects. First, all male groups
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that came in to the store were quite different from the all female
groups that came in to the store. They differed not only in the way they talked
to each other and what they said to each other but also the type of movie title
they chose.
Second, when a single (single referring to coming in alone) man
or a single woman came in there were considerable differences in the amount of
time they spent in the store to their conversations with the workers. A man was
more likely to know what movie he was looking for before he came in than a woman
was. This was proven in countless conversations that a woman would initiate with
a worker. A woman would spend a considerable longer amount of time in the store
than a man. Couples that came in were the same in that the woman and the man of
the couple would show the same actions as another woman or another man in
different couple.
In this paper I not only show the gender differences in
customers at a video store but I also back those findings up by the observation
that was conducted. The findings of the paper can also be taken outside the
video
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store setting and can help us understand the
age-old question of ?What makes men and women different?? My thoughts going into
the research was of course men and women would differ to some extent. The extent
to which they differ is what powered the research and thus the paper.
First
Investigation: Basic Gender Differences
The purpose of this first
investigation in a large well-known video store in Manchester, CT, was to scope
out basic surface differences, establish what I needed to look for, and get an
overall sense of the setting.
Procedure
The first investigation was done
in the middle of the week between the hours of 10am-12pm. This gave me a chance
to really pay attention to specific details of the first customers that I
studied. At this point I did not know what I was looking for so every detail was
important. I recorded how the people were dressed, whether they had wedding
rings on, details of their features, whether they had a child with them or not,
and anything else that was visible to the eye.
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Second
Investigation: Length of Time in store
The second investigation came with
more familiarity in the research setting. At the end of the first investigation
I began to notice a repetition in the pattern of the length of time spent in the
store between the two genders. I focused in on this aspect during the second
investigation.
Procedure
The second investigation I walked around
the store more than the first one. I browsed the aisles like a customer so I
would have little or no effect on the situations around me. I paid more
attention to the amount of time that a man spends picking out movies versus a
woman. I didn?t write down in minutes how long they spent but took more notice
in how the women read more cover boxes, which gave them a description of the
movie. They took more time to look around the store to see what was available
than the men did. The men were very quick in the store and if they spent even a
few extra minutes it was to check out video games, magazines, or video game
cheat magazines.
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Third Investigation: Mixed gender
groups
I decided that I needed to experience the video store on a busy
weekend night at peak hours. I went to the store on a Saturday between 6-8pm.
There were so many people in and out of the store that night that I focused on
groups of mixed gender. I observed groups that had about the same amount of men
and the same amount of women in it. I focused on who was leading the group, who
was making the movie decision, and who was paying.
Fourth Investigation:
One-gender groups
This investigation was conducted during a weekday and
weekend day. I focused on female groups of ages ranging from early 20?s to mid
40?s. I listened to their conversations, watched their actions, watched and
listened to how they picked out a movie for the group, and who took care of the
bill. I also focused on male groups who were mainly in their 20?s to early 30?s.
I looked for the same characteristics in these groups as in the female groups.
Fifth Investigation: Couples
Throughout the investigation process I took
field notes on couples. I focused on the attitudes of when they first
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walked in the store, who picked the movie, what type of movie they
went home with, and who paid for the movie.
Results
The results of
male-female differences can be broken down into four main categories: single men
or women, one-gender groups, mixed gender groups, and couples.
The findings
of single men were on target with the stereo typing that we have become so used
to. The men typically were in and out of the store in 10 minutes, they very
rarely asked for help, they knew what they wanted, and almost always went home
with an action movie. On my first day of investigation the first customer I
observed was a man who came in right when the store opened. He proceeded to the
action section without even stopping on the way. He returned to the counter with
two movies within two minutes of walking in the store. He asked how the worker?s
day was going and briskly left when the transaction was completed.
On the
other hand, it was during my second investigation that I experienced the big
difference between men and women in a video store. It was late around 11pm when
a woman in her early 30?s came in. She approached the counter
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immediately without even looking around. She asked one of the
workers ?Has anything good come in lately?? The worker listed off some new
movies but the lady was indecisive and asked to use the phone so she could call
home to see what she should get. After using the phone the lady was in the store
approximately 20 more minutes. Almost all of the women that came in engaged the
workers either right away or during their shopping experience. On average they
were in the store for 15-25 minutes at a time.
It was fascinating to see the
similarities between the same gender groups that came in. The all male groups
had a similar pattern of how they shopped, as did the all female groups. The
male groups typically had 3-5 guys and as soon as they walked in the door they
split up. One would go to the new release section to pick out a movie, another
would go straight to the video games (even though it was obvious they were there
to pick out a movie), and the other would go to the magazines or elsewhere.
These groups had no qualms about yelling to each other across the store. There
was always one in the group who focused on getting the movie and this same
person was also the one who paid for
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the movie. More
often than not the others in the group would have no money and balances on their
account. I witnessed one particular group during the fourth investigation that
fit every aspect of this generalization. Four guys walked in and immediately
split up. Two of them went to the new release section, one of them went to the
video game area, and the other poked around until he ended up in front of the
magazine rack. The two guys on looking for a movie shouted out titles to the
other two with responses like ?That movie sucked? or ?I already saw it.? The
other male groups observed were not far from this initial group of men.
The
all female groups observed were in direct contrast to the male groups. The women
never separated, there was a steady chatter among the group while looking for a
movie, and when they approached the counter there was always a slight
disagreement on who wanted to pay. The first female group I observed were mid
30?s and on their lunch break. They all came in dressed in business attire
around 12:30pm. They were all very lively and chatted while they looked around.
They were very intent on choosing a movie that all
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of
them wanted to see but one that none of them had already seen. They always chose
some sort of romantic or drama movie. When they approached the checkout counter
they were all very adamant that they were going to pay. Money would be thrown or
shoved back and forth into hands with one of the women reluctantly always giving
in.
The mixed gender groups had the most surprising of results. In every
split gender group that came in there typically was a female who was the
self-appointed leader of the group. She was normally quite loud and boisterous.
She would lead the way, initiate the picking of movies, decide when it was time
to leave, and never pay. There was only a half dozen of these types of groups to
observe but the findings were consistent with the above.
There were some
exceptions to the general findings of the couples that were observed but most
were the same. Couples either came in happy or from their actions, visibly did
not want to be there. The man almost always paid for the movie while he usually
picked out the movie but not without a struggle from the woman. Typically a man
and woman would check out the new release section and the man would find a
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movie almost immediately that he would want. The woman
would want to continue looking just to make sure they didn?t miss a better
movie. She would show the man different cover boxes of other interesting movies
all the while the man would be clutching on to the original movie he picked out.
Nine times out of ten the couple would walk out with the original movie picked
out by the man. The woman however would seek an unspoken revenge by adding
multiple items at the checkout or asking for a certain stuffed animal off of the
Disney cart. The woman would always do this petulantly with an unspoken threat
that she gave into the movie now he must in turn fork over the money for what
she wants.
The findings reported in this section came of no surprise to me
because as stated in the introduction, it is a universal belief that men and
women differ in many ways in everything they do.
Discussion
From the
results we see that men and women do differ significantly in the way they shop
for videos. They not only differ in the videos that they watch but also the
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process in the way they choose movies. The differences
we see our not specific just to this situation. We see these same differences in
almost all settings that we observe. Why we see these differences is what this
paper just begins to touch on. What makes almost every woman pick out the same
type of movie and what makes her spend a significant amount of time in the
store? In contrast, what makes men want typically only action movies and what
makes them spend ten minutes or less in the store? The findings of the research
confirm that there are gender differences but where and when these gender
differences begin is the question?