Monday, March 16, 2009

Honey? Why do I feel this need to go to the mall? *blink blink*

This article is ridiculous. The title? "Shopping is 'throwback to days of cavewomen"
May I quote from it? Yes I believe I shall...

"A woman's love of shopping is a throwback to her days in the caves, according to a new study. Shoppers are using instincts they learnt from their Neanderthal ancestors, researchers have found.

Dr David Holmes, of Manchester Metropolitan University(who, is being given wasted $$ and has his head up his arse) said: "Gatherers sifted the useful from things that offered them no sustenance, warmth or comfort with a skill that would eventually lead to comfortable shopping malls and credit cards. In our evolutionary past, we gathered in caves with fires at the entrance. We repeat this in warm shopping centres where we can flit from store to store without braving the icy winds."

If you can believe it, this was a study paid for by a shopping centre to find out why people shop more in January. The grand conclusion?

"It seems our gatherer instincts are coming to the fore and affecting the way we shop in these testing times."

Um yeah. It's totally not due to us all getting gift cards for Christmas or anything. And that the mall is full of mostly useless distracting junk that we don't need for "sustenance" Sure we might want to get out a bit to warm up, but that's no great cultural historical link...its just glaringly obvious. AND (perhaps my most vehement point) WOMEN DO NOT GENETICALLY LOVE SHOPPING YOU BIASED DISCRIMINATING YABO!
*ahem*

I'd just like to say on behalf of educated researchers everywhere: Please don't lump us in with men like this. This is ridiculous. I can't believe someone paid someone to come up with this.

*ahem*
Just wanted to mention casually that if MEC wants to sponsor similar "research"with some camp gear gift certificates I'd be willing to fart out a report like this too...how hard could it be?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I know, shopping is something I could live withou... wait a minute, do I get two of those for the price of one? We've got too many rugs. But those look nice and warm. And soft. And the cats would sleep on the old ones, and I could have those new ones! I won't think too hard about how the cats would probably claim the new ones too...

I suggest a new study: women shop for new stuff all the time because the cats snabble all the stuff around the house and get hairs on them.

the Bag Lady said...

Oh for cryin' out loud.
I would have been a lousy cavewoman....

Pacian said...

I like going shopping.

The thing that leaps out at me is this: 'instincts they learnt from their Neanderthal ancestors'.

I'm willing to concede that there might potentially be some valid evolutionary psychology going on (you know, supported by evidence), but if you don't even know what our evolutionary heritage is then chances are you're just spouting bollocks. (I wonder if maybe the shopping centre just didn't want to be associated with the term Homo erectus.)

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