Marion by

Marion Shopping Centre

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 10:44:00 UTC

Architectural division of masculine and feminine stores.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 10:49:34 UTC

Marion separates area's and shops which are viewed socially as masculine such as 'Nike' and 'Rebel Sport', . Shops which are more feminine such as 'dusk' and hair salons are 'grouped together'.

Biological essentialism.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 10:57:33 UTC

The layout of Marion shopping centre emphasizes the biological means of determining sex to the socially constructed gender. It reinforces social norms and marginalises the 'other'.

Division of Labour.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 10:59:47 UTC

In multipurpose stores such as 'Coles,' 'Big W' and 'Woolworths' have different divisions of labour. The men in these stores are typically doing the lifting and stocking of shelves. Female workers generally are at the beginning of the shop at the checkouts.

The class division of Marion.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:01:49 UTC

The stores closest to the food court of Marion feature branded names and products of high value. At the 'K-mart' side of Marion it is more working class with stores such as 'the Reject shop', 'Price-line' and 'Coles'.

Architecture/Environment

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:04:10 UTC

Seperation of products within stores.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:08:23 UTC

Products within stores are socially constructed to be 'feminine' or 'masculine'. These products are then separated and are created to reinforce the gender binary. Often clothes designed for women are placed at the front of stores whilst clothes for males are further towards the back.

Workers

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:17:01 UTC

Work vs. Play

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:18:59 UTC

Shoppers

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:23:05 UTC

Masculine music.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:24:58 UTC

The Music within stores which target men such as 'Roger David' are louder and played rhythmically faster. Instruments featured are drums, electric guitar and powerful vocalists. This represents the 'power and strength' that is associated with masculinity.

Advertisment

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:25:54 UTC

There are many forms of advertisement which target a range of consumers. Advertisements reinforce gender norms and that gender and sex are the same

Feminine music.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-13 11:27:43 UTC

Music at 'feminine' stores are slower and feature softer instruments such as acoustic guitars. This represent the 'grace and passiveness' which are embedded with the Western view of femininity.

Toliets

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 11:44:02 UTC

Male and female toilets reinforce biological essentialism by normalizing the biological means of determining ones 'sex'.

Reinforcing gendered roles

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 11:49:30 UTC

Male and female toilets reinforce gender roles. Female toilets are always located first and next to the 'baby change rooms'. This reinforces the social role of a woman as a naturally nurturing caregiver to children. On the outside of the 'changing rooms' there is a sign displayed stating "Dad's welcome to". This sign displays societies reluctance to switch gender roles.

Reinforcing gender stereotypes.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 11:59:17 UTC

The stick figures outside of the toilets normalize social idea's about what 'makes a woman feminine and what makes a man masculine'. Women are depicted as wearing dresses. Men are depicted as simply a stick figure. This can create a 'matrix of domination'. This can be due to males not being labelled as 'different' as they do not have to alter their body.

Gender binary reinforced.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 12:14:10 UTC

The gender binary does exist firmly within the use of toilets. Toilets create an illusion that there is a 'fixed truth'- much of which is against Foucault's theory of discourse.

Normalizing hetrosexuality.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 12:19:29 UTC

Female and male toilet's are placed next to each other as they signify the subtle natural connection of females and males. This promotes heterosexuality as one gender exists cohesively with the other; not singularly.

The problematic.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 12:27:22 UTC

Marion intends to further categorize and divide society. With Marion being structured and maintaining the norms of society it seeks to separate and segregate people. In an effort to do this Marion exposes itself as when the normative is breached. The normative was breached when males and females reversed roles. I did notice the shorter queues at checkouts attended to by men. This relates to Garfinkel's breaching experiments.

The Salesperson

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 12:45:24 UTC

The salesperson within stores are typically female although males workers are apparent. On the occasions that I observed, the women seemed to have greater success than males in securing a sale. Males however featured prominently at the front of stores checking through bags for stolen items.

Food Stores

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 12:50:02 UTC

In food stores such as 'Mcdonalds' and 'KFC' the division of labour is clear. Men work out the back where the product is made and the women work out the front; attending to the customers.

The used of colour and font.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 12:51:29 UTC

Colour in the shop fronts can distinguish which shops are more feminine and which shops are more masculine for the consumer. The shop fronts can display more delicate, pale/light colours for stores which emphasize femininity and bold, darker colours/fonts for stores targetting masculinity

Scientific justification

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 13:02:34 UTC

In a discussion with peers in retail and based on my observations the justification for the division of labour is justified as 'men are stronger and are therefore more fit to do the heavier work'. This reflects the biological determinism that allows society to remain structural as methods and genes are fixed.

Queer theory

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 13:09:16 UTC

This scientific justification may be a representation of evolution. Butler argues that there is an illusion of gender and replication is not repeated to be the exact change. Butler in the Marion case study may argue that this division of labour is not fixed. Over time replication would evolve into a transference of what the normative is in regards to gendered labour.

The underlying social divide in food stores.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 13:18:47 UTC

The division of labour in food stores is a particularly interesting case for several reasons. Many of the people working at these stores are young and must adhere to the expected social norms. It makes them a clear embodiment of what society wants to reproduce.

The 'back'

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 13:24:14 UTC

Males often work out the back as it provides an area where the product is made which is removed from the consumer. This is also where the laborious work is done. This fast paced work has a clear product at the end and embodies how society wants masculinity to be presented.

The 'front'

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 13:24:16 UTC

Females dominate this domain and it can be viewed as a passive role. The females in this role please the customer by taking complaints, refunds, orders and handing out the final product. The passive role that females inherit by being gender placed into this role define society's view of femininity.

The problematic become catergorized

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-14 13:28:08 UTC

There are some stores where the problematic become categorized and the normative is challenged as the abnormal becomes normal. JB-Hi-Fi has many workers which represent the marginalized. Females in JB- Hi-Fi observed on the 26/08/2015 have deeper voices, larger body movements and dress masculine by wearing pants/shorts/T-shirts. It creates a form of strategic essentialism and could represent Butler's explanation of how repetition is not mirrored perfectly.

Women are sexualized

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-15 01:43:26 UTC

Out the front of 'Jetty Surf' in Marion the advertisement features a woman in a bikini. The woman is lying down in a submissive pose which also reinforces male and female sexual roles within the private sphere.

Heterosexuality is made the norm.

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-15 01:48:29 UTC

Heterosexuality in advertisement creates an environment of heteronormativity. In advertisements outside of jewelry stores women and men are seen together. Women have shocked expressions on their faces. In many of these advertisements rings are shown, reinforcing marriage and the norms that are associated with a male, female partnership.

The 'other'

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-15 01:55:37 UTC

The advertisements are highly subjective. By creating a picture of what is 'ideal' it creates a normal. It creates an 'unknown space' for what is different. Throughout Marion I did not see one advertisement promoting homosexual relations. The everyday heterosexual shopper is oblivious to this as it becomes an internalised behaviour.

The average shopper?

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-15 02:01:41 UTC

The consumer that I observed at Marion were mostly females with children. It reinforces the roles within the private sphere that women are mostly doing the unpaid work of shopping whilst men are doing paid work.

Challenged

trenthaydenwright — 2015-09-15 02:09:39 UTC

Men do challenge the system of unpaid shopping and can be seen on occasion walking with young children or doing grocery shopping. The rate of males at Marion are far lower than females.