The location that I chose for the Social
Location Project for WMST 1101 Introduction to Women’s Studies is Surrey
Center. Surrey Center is a shopping
center located at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Wheeler Road in
Augusta, Georgia. The way that I
identify with this shopping center is as a consumer. I do enjoy eating at one of the restaurants
that is located there as well as a chain clothing store that I purchase clothes
from online and I use the brick and mortar store to return items that I do not
wish to keep. I do not personally
identify with this location very well besides being a consumer at those two
businesses that I patronize and my role in this location is limited to that which
occurs only a couple of times a year.
The only power in this location would be the ability to decide whether
or not I will spend money there. This is
definitely very limited in that the amount I spent there is much less than what
many of their regular customers could demand or request.
This photo represents the social
construction of gender. Lorber explains
that explains that gender is a process, something that we do, and allows us to
organize behavior and expectations. She also provides a term and definition of
how this image relates to the social construction of gender. Gender display is the “presentation of self
as a certain kind of gendered person through dress, cosmetics, adornments, and
permanent and revisable body markers” (31).
This image like the rest in this blog was taken in Surrey Center. This image, in particular, is of part of the
Talbot’s exterior signage and also Shoes at Surrey. These are two of the many stores at Surrey
Center that specifically target women as their consumer base while other
stores, a few of them have men as their target consumer group. There is a definite division between what
these stores and their customers deem appropriate clothing for men to wear
while there is a separate definition of what is socially acceptable for women
to wear. This division reinforces the
social construction of gender, which has already been established, through the
models in the windows and within the store.
It is also quite possible that when a customer that enters the store and
is not of the socially prescribed gender for these stores interacts with the
employees they are expected to purchase the clothing for someone else. I would imagine that within this specific
shopping center that customers that do not make it clear that they are
purchasing for someone else or if they try clothes on that are assigned to a
different gender they are met with resistance, appall, or some other negative
reaction.
This photograph represents privilege. Ferber et al. have privilege in the glossary
as “The systematic access to valued cultural and institutional resources that
are denied to others, based on social location in dominant categories of race,
gender, sexuality, ability, and so forth.
Privilege exists in relation to oppression” (556). It is a picture of the store “Gentry”. Merriam-webster.com defines gentry as “a : upper or ruling class : aristocracy b : a class whose
members are entitled to bear a coat of arms though not of noble rank; especially
: the landed proprietors having such status”. While this may not play directly into how
Peggy McIntosh approaches privilege, I think that this type of privilege is
more observable and plays a greater role in our daily lives than something that
is hidden and may unrecognizable for most people even if they try to find
it. This is privilege because there is
store that is referencing something of a bygone era and seems to present the
idea that the people that shop there are in a position to rule or feel superior
because of where they shop. While there
may be some customers that are not white and wealthy, it is easy to accurately
assume that most of their customers are.
This image represents heteronormativity. It is as picture of “House of the Bride”
which is in the same area as Surrey Center, but kind of behind it with a
connected parking lot. Martin and Kazyak
explain that “Heteronormativity structures social life so that heterosexuality
is always assumed, expected, ordinary, and privileged” (316) and also that it “holds
people accountable to reproductive procreative sexuality and traditional
gendered domestic arrangements of sexual relationships, and it is linked to
particular patterns of consumerism and consumption” (317). So, a store that specializes in bridal
apparel and special occasion dresses is a product of and reinforces
heteronormativity. Yes, it is quite
possible that someone other than a heterosexual woman that is marrying a
heterosexual man is shopping for a dress at this store, but that is probably
not their target consumer group. This is
a store that is rewarding (not the best word, but it fits) heterosexual
behavior in women by providing them with the opportunity to look or feel like
they are trained to through the social construction of gender which is
reinforced by media.
This is a picture of the Surrey Center
Sign on Highland Avenue. I used this
photo to represent intersectionality.
Intersectionality is “an ‘analysis claiming that systems of race, social
class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, and age form mutually
constructing features of social organization, which shape Black women’s
experiences and, in turn, are shaped by Black women’” (Johnson, Lorber, Collins
PowerPoint). This image represents
intersectionality because of the area surrounding Surrey center as well as the
people that work there. Surrey Center is
presented as an upscale shopping center and mainly caters to white middle to
upper class customers. The neighborhoods
that are around the shopping center are predominately black and appears to be
economically depressed with predominately white middle-upper class
neighborhoods just past that. The
employees in the stores and restaurants usually have white employees upfront or
serving with the lower level service employees that do not directly interact
with customers being another race or appearing to be of a lower socio-economic
group. I think this relates to
intersectionality because Collins argues that it is how class, race, and gender
interact and impact our lives as individuals and groups that must be
considered. This is relevant if we
consider how class, race, and gender come into play when we examine what groups
of people frequent certain establishments or shopping areas while also looking
at who is working there and in what capacity.
This is an image that represents
patriarchy. It is a photograph of the
store Rivers and Glen. Johnson explains
that “Patriarchy’s defining elements are its male-dominated, male-identified,
and male-centered character” (84) and “is a set of symbols and ideas that make
up a culture embodied by everything from the content of everyday conversation
to literature and film” (84). Ferber et
al. defines patriarchy as “a dynamic system of power and inequality that
privileges men and boys over women and girls in social interactions and
institutions” (556). This photo
represents patriarchy in that it is a store that seems to play into the idea that
men fish and it is appropriate for them to dress in a way that expresses that
they do or have an interest in it and this is not really extended to
women. Also, in relation to the other
stores located in Surrey Center, this is a store for men that seems to express
the idea of leisure, recreation, and comfort for men while the other stores do
not express that same idea for women.
While the clothing that is sold to and directed at women may be
comfortable and appropriate for leisure, it does not seem to project that
idea. There is a lingerie store, a
fitness store, a tanning salon, and several others that sell tight clothes,
clothes that restrict movement, and express the idea that women must work to be
attractive while men are able to relax.
I did try to complete this project at the local mall, but I was unable
to find a store that was directed at men besides shoes and hats while there was
an abundance of lingerie, jewelry, and shoe stores.
This is an image of both Oxygen Fitness
Studio and Palm Beach Tan. It is used to
represent taking the path of least resistance.
Refusing to take the path of least resistance was the term provided to
capture, describe, and explain, but I was unable to achieve that at Surrey
Center since Surrey Center is or at least appears to be a shopping and dining
destination that rewards taking the path of least resistance. Johnson explains that soldiers “want to do
nothing more than to do what they think is expected of them- especially to live
up to cultural images of what it means to be a man” (81). This is happening in this photo because it
two shops, of several, that share in the idea of what a women looks like and
should do. So, women that shop at Surrey
Center are able to work out, buy, their exercise outfit, and get an artificial
acquired tan in one quick trip. This is
present, I think, in most shopping areas.
There are images of what we are supposed to look like and there are the
stores that sell the clothing that will make us look the way we a socially
suppose to. If your body type does not
fit that ideal or your skin is too light or too dark there are products and
services that will help you reach the ideal.
This is a photo of the sign for Surrey
Tavern. It is used to represent
sexism. Ferber et al. defines sexism as
“a system that oppresses women through everyday practices, attitudes,
assumptions, behaviors, culture, and institutional rules and structures” (557). I used this image because of information that
was previously shared with me. I was
informed that on Thursdays, in August that would be Thirsty Thursday, women are
paid to come to this bar. I was told
that it is a rather unpleasant bar with a drab atmosphere and is not high
recommended, but on Thirsty Thursday the drink are cheap and females are paid
five dollars upon entering the bar. I
think that this is an example of sexism since men are not paid and it is
basically assumed by the manager or owner of the tavern that it would be
necessary to pay women to frequent the establishment. If in reality paying women to come to a bar
where drinks are cheap and many of the men will be fairly to highly intoxicated
as well as willing to purchase drinks for women, it would seem that there are
issues with the “attitudes, assumptions, behaviors, and culture” of the
customers and the tavern.
