Therapeutic effects of shopping

Most (exceptions are always there, of course!) women will vouch for it and most (exceptions of course!) guys will shrug their shoulders off in bafflement. Being a woman myself I am no exception, I love to shop and I feel great after a good round of shopping.

What is it that makes women shop till they drop? Does it mean that women are materialistic creatures and crave for material possessions? The point is not this, both men & women shop, but why do most men loath the idea of it and women derive pleasure from it. Is it because of the clichéd ‘Men are from Mars and women from Venus’ theory? Its possible, but I guess it’s more because of the fact how differently men and women are made to perceive shopping from their childhood. Shopping being the butt of many jokes, men from the beginning consider it as something sissy and emasculating. Anyways I am not going to discuss the disparities between the two sexes, who anyways are opposite.

I would like to possibly explain why women love it; obviously everyone likes the idea of getting something good, beautiful & useful for oneself. But apart from this there are some other reasons, which I feel make shopping a fun-activity and a kind of therapy for women.

Shopping for women is like a put-outer; when women shop they just shut off the other things in their life including their worries, tensions and pressures. It’s a woman’s way of stress busting. Women will go shopping if they are feeling put down and after the escapade end up feeling much better

Shopping for women is an indulgence; it’s like treating themselves, and who in the world does not like treats? Women will go shopping, if they are feeling especially good and at the end of it feel even better. (So you see it works both ways ;))

Shopping for women is like a trail; It’s a treasure hunt of sorts, they go in search for something and in the process ending up buying a lot more than they had initially thought of, on impulse. (The hypermarkets bank on this and put tempting products on display.) The idea of exploring a shopping mall or a street is exciting for women. (I know I sound ridiculous!)

Shopping for women is a way of bonding with their friends; A gang of friends on a shopping escapade, women just love the idea, its one of their ways of having fun, I remember doing this a lot in the hostel, usually it used to be an all gals affair. Needless to mention that even if we were not shopping for ourselves and just accompanying people, we used to have a great time.

Shopping for women is an ego booster; the fact that they make decisions and so many of them at one time gives them an immense ego-boost. Maybe this does not apply for women who do a fair share of decision-making in their lives. But for the less privileged ones, it certainly makes them feel that they are in control of at least something in their lives.

I have cited enough reasons for now, its time for some therapy ;)