Why women are better at shopping than men

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

Quite an interesting article I've run across today about the hereditary capability of women to do the shopping better than men:

Why women are better at shopping than men

As women are better at gathering plants and men are better at hunting, women will easily remember where the good food, especially the food with more calories is placed in a supermarket.

The research also shows that women have the same navigational skills as men, if there is sufficient motivation to get to a destination, such as a cream bun.

[anthrobabe]

quite a funny quote- but good article

Yeah anthropology! now that is my kind of study- shopping and eating.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

And here I was thinking that they were good at it because they did it more...

[Swatopluk]

At least at some discounters the products are highly mobile. I get the impression that everytime I go there, they have rearranged everything. That should therefore favor the hunters as opposed to the gatheres.
I suspect a subtle strategy. If one has to seek for what one wants, one has to check all the shelves and is likely to be seduced to buy more than originally intended.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

That is indeed the reason (at least at the supermarket). But they are more likely to remember where that beautiful shirt was on sale an in which department of one of those huge stores in the equally gargantuan malls.

I don't get lost in the streets easily, but there are a few gigantic malls in which I get easily lost (and for some reason there are very few maps inside).

[Griffin NoName]

Women also did better with a high-calorie food, such as a doughnut, compared with a stick of celery.

"It was a dramatic effect," he said. "Memory for the high-calorie foods like honey and avocados was as much as four times as accurate as memory for the low-calorie foods like cucumber and lettuce," he said.

Bad research. No account for the fact that good high-calorie food generally has more taste differntial than poor quality high-calorie food, compared to the taste differential between good and poor quality low-calorie food.

Cake !!!!!!!!

And Swato is correct in theory re hunters. But, since men are so bad at hunting in supermarkets it seems probable they were equally poor at traditional hunting. Nuts and herbs for supper again, Dad was taking his usual nap when the mammoths swept past.

[Swatopluk]

Today our main prey is the

http://www.doenerhaus.net/images/doenertier.jpg

[Alpaca]

Swato, why does that thing keep coming back?

In malls and supermarkets, what I'm really good at is getting out. I really, really dislike shopping.

[Swatopluk]

Swato, why does that thing keep coming back?

A Turko-German conspiracy?

Let's hunt for the egglaying wool milk sow (eierlegende Wollmilchsau)

http://kamelopedia.mormo.org/images/thumb/f/f3/Wollmilchsau.jpg/180px-Wollmilchsau.jpg

All needs in one beast!

[Aggie]

Bad research. No account for the fact that good high-calorie food generally has more taste differntial than poor quality high-calorie food, compared to the taste differential between good and poor quality low-calorie food.

Disagree.  Quality is much more important to taste for low-calorie foods than for high-calorie foods (in a modern setting); it's just that most Western shoppers haven't had much exposure good-tasting lcf's since most produce has been selectively bred to sit prettily on a shelf at the expense of taste. 

In evolutionary contexts, I agree, and if one is focusing on plant foods, it makes very good sense that better navigation is allotted to the choicest (rare) crops.  I could lead you to several specific black raspberry bushes back home, but saskatoons?  Dunno, they are everywhere (large areas with many individual bushes) and not especially tasty, so why bother to remember specific locations?

And Swato is correct in theory re hunters. But, since men are so bad at hunting in supermarkets it seems probable they were equally poor at traditional hunting. Nuts and herbs for supper again, Dad was taking his usual nap when the mammoths swept past.

I've been mulling this article over but not sure how to respond/interpret, since I'm a pretty good forager and marginal hunter (haven't had much chance to develop my own skills independent of Dad's style, but definitely not a pro).    I enjoy food shopping and will hit 3 or 4 markets in one trip sometimes for different items (fruit at one, meat at another, organic veggies at a third etc.) based on past quality and price patterns.  HATE clothes shopping, especially pants - there's little variation between stores, and the quality-to-price ratio tends to stay relatively constant unless something is on sale!

I think it's got to do with search image....  I can spot and visually assess ripeness on berries growing roadside while driving at 100 km/h, and can tell with a quick glance, squeeze (and often sniff for fruits) if a produce item meets quality-to-price standards, and am not too bad at spotting game (would rather use my ears for initial awareness, but that doesn't work from a moving truck when you're cruising clearcuts for deer).

Clothes shopping requires being able to judge how a garment will look when on, and a mental tally of how it will fit into one's overall wardrobe.  That I can't do, and search imaging tends to lead to a rack of near-identical shirts and a fear of trying anything outside of a 'normal' range.

[The Meromorph]

And Swato is correct in theory re hunters. But, since men are so bad at hunting in supermarkets it seems probable they were equally poor at traditional hunting. Nuts and herbs for supper again, Dad was taking his usual nap when the mammoths swept past.

According to Jared Diamond, who has some experience of living with and hunting with stone-age hunters, "A man is likely to kill a large mammal once or twice in a lifetime, The whole group will recount the tale of that hunt endlessly for years."    A more typical hunting trip involved the finding, killing with much ado, and eating on the spot of a three-ounce wren  . That band talked about that hunt for a good three weeks! Meanwhile the women and chidren gathered and prepared the usual plant, nut, and fruit diet.

[Swatopluk]

And primeval "hunters" were probably not that picky about animals already dead (if not too rotten) or finishing off big ones that got somehow immobile. After mastering fire they also had the option of driving off predators from their kill and just take it. Why should they risk their own neck?

[Sibling Chatty]

For me, shopping is an exercise in obtaining as much quality product for as little monetary input as possible.

For food, I am hell on the produce department, as I will denounce entire bins of veg as 'green cardboard crap' and people pay attention. (After I search 90 melons to choose ONE, they know I'm--picky.) Other products? I comparison shop prices and quality (as well as manufacturer) stringently. I tend to closely remember the location of products I buy regularly, rather that products I WANT to buy regularly.

Clothes?? OH, HELL no...

I do not do malls. The last time I was in a mall was 5 years ago, and I only went beyond the entrance for less that 3 minutes, to reach a restaurant that was 15 feet away, but blocked at the outdoor entrance by a wreck and all the concomitant ambulances, wreckers and police cars.

Give me a hardware/home improvement store, and I can clean up. The new lighting and plumbing fixtures we've bought for the house, at regular retail, would have been about $900. I've gotten them for around $300. Today I bought a $185 lighting fixture for my dining room (that's full of books and power tools, and a fixture that's ancient and has multiple shorts) on close out, for $6.35. Last one on the shelf, a nice appearance that meets all my standards (doesn't show bare bulbs like ceiling fan fixtures do, easy to keep dusted, not excessively modern looking, to fit with the house).

Clothes?? Shoes?? I HAVE clothes and shoes. They have not fallen apart. Why do I need more? Now, books?? Let's go spend money!! I'll drive, you pay!!

I have been accused of thinking like a man. Nope, I think like a thrifty person and do not overpay unless it's worth it (and I have the money.) As to location of the things I buy, I just have a good internal map system for most places.

[Griffin NoName]

I enjoy food shopping and will hit 3 or 4 markets in one trip sometimes for different items (fruit at one, meat at another, organic veggies at a third etc.) based on past quality and price patterns.  HATE clothes shopping, especially pants - there's little variation between stores, and the quality-to-price ratio tends to stay relatively constant unless something is on sale!

Try eating your pants. You'll soon get picky about what you buy. 

I will denounce entire bins of veg as 'green cardboard crap' and people pay attention.

In the UK nowadays there is often no one to pay attention. Just a secret buyer to catch shop-lifters and the self-service check-out tills. 

I just have a good internal map system for most places.

I have an excellent memory for where the shops are - especially online ones.

Note to readers: I cannot back any of my statements on evolution up with accredited references. I hope you will accept them as is.

[Aggie]

I enjoy food shopping and will hit 3 or 4 markets in one trip sometimes for different items (fruit at one, meat at another, organic veggies at a third etc.) based on past quality and price patterns.  HATE clothes shopping, especially pants - there's little variation between stores, and the quality-to-price ratio tends to stay relatively constant unless something is on sale!

Try eating your pants. You'll soon get picky about what you buy. 

I am too picky...  I don't know what is good, so I don't buy; the one brand that consistently fits and looks good is bloody expensive unless it's on sale.  I contracted out the clothes shopping a couple of years back.  Much better.