Eric Brown hates shopping. "It's just not
enjoyable to me," said the 28-year-old Chicago man who was carrying several
shopping bags along the city's main street, Michigan Avenue. "When I'm out
{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}, I basically know what I want to
get. I rush in. I buy it. I {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}}
{{/U}}." Common wisdom says that guys hate to shop. You can ask
generations of men. But people who study shopping say that a number of social,
cultural and economic factors are now {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}}
{{/U}}this "men-hate-to-shop" notion. "{{U}} {{U}}
4 {{/U}} {{/U}}social class, ethnicity, age-men say they hate to shop,"
says Sharon Zukin, a City University of New York sociology professor. "Yet when
you ask them deeper questions, it turns out that they {{U}} {{U}}
5 {{/U}} {{/U}}to shop. Men generally like to shop for {{U}}
{{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}, music and hardware. But if you ask them about
the shopping they do for books or music, they'll say that's not shopping. That's
{{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}." In other words,
what men and women call "buying things" and how they approach that task are
{{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}. Women will
{{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}through several 1,000-square-metre
stores in search of the perfect party dress. Men will wander through 100
Internet sites in search of the {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}}
{{/U}}digital camcorder. Women see shopping as a social event.
Men see it as a mission or a {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}to be
won. "Men are frequently shopping to win," says Mary Ann McGrath, a marketing
professor at Loyola University of Chicago. "They want to get the best deal. They
want to get the best one, the last one and if they do that it {{U}}
{{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}them happy." When women shop,
"they're doing it in a way where they want {{U}} {{U}} 13
{{/U}} {{/U}}to be very happy," says McGrath. "They're kind of shopping for
love." In fact, it is in clothing where we see a male-female
{{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}most clearly. Why, grumble some men,
are all male clothes navy, grey, black or brown? But would they wear light green
and pink? These days, many guys wear a sort of "uniform" says
Paco Underhill, author of Why We Bye. "It's been hard for them to understand
what it means to be fashion. Conscious in a business way. It becomes much easier
if you {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}your range of
choices."