摘要：While gender-based differences in consumer behavior have been previously investigated within thecontext of gender-neutral or unisex retailers, men’s behavior in women’s retailers remains largely unexplored.Furthermore, most studies frame the retail environment as a passive platform through whichessential gender differences yield setting-specific bifurcated behavior, and do not address the role thecommercial establishment and men’s shopping habits play in gender identity formation and maintenance.To address this gap, we analyzed men’s behavior in women’s retailers using interactionist andsocial constructionist theories of sex/gender. Data were collected through non-participatory observationat a series of large, enclosed shopping malls in South-Western Ontario, Canada and analyzed thematically.We found that men tend to actively avoid women’s retailers or commercial spaces that connotefemininity, while those who enter said spaces display passivity, aloofness, or reticence. We suggest thedominant cultural milieu that constitute hegemonic masculinity—a disaffiliation with femininity, anaccentuation of heterosexuality, and a prioritization of homosocial engagement—inform the dialecticalrelationship between individual and institutional gender practice that manifests through consumption.
