Reflection Of Product Placement At The Bay And Nordstrom

“While it is undisputable that the economic status of men and women has greatly converged in the second half of the twentieth century, it is also well documented that it is still not equal” (Ponthieux & Meurs, 2015). Product placement in department stores replicate the gender inequities found in society, which reinforce a male-dominated patriarchal society. I will demonstrate this by providing an overview of my observation regarding product placement at the Bay and Nordstrom. Going into department stores in the past, it never occurred that there might be something, in particular, wrong or suspicious in the way each product has been placed in the store. In fact, the separation of products by gender and age appear to create an effective shopping

In the department stores are multi-level, the first floor is mainly occupied by accessories, shoes and makeup; separated by product type, age and gender. The second floor and up are reserved for clothing and housewares products. The multi-levelled nature of these stores replicates the gender roles in society and in particular the position women and men are presumed to have. The structure of the work environment is standardized around the constant that is masculinity. The organization of the workplace is dependent on the division of labour: the women being caregivers and men being the providers (Kimmel,

In particular, Acker (1992) found that “hegemonic masculinity pervade many institutional areas, including the military, business, academia, and politics. The leader and the successful organization itself are often portrayed as aggressive, goal-oriented competitive, efficient but rarely supportive, kind and caring” (p. 568). As a result, there are many women that work in both department stores and they are put in all locations of the departments, suggesting women only know how to decorate and dress. Additionally, based on the way that they distribute their salespeople this could cause some negative effects to the customers. For instance, if a trans-person is shopping in the male department and it is only a man, they may feel awkward or uncomfortable with that person. In effect, the customer will not feel as though they can express themselves to whoever is supporting that part of the department. Accordingly, the importance of gender distribution is important within the department but that does not mean it should necessarily be equal; one must also factor in work experience and quality of