By Audrey Elwood, Campus News Editor
“Women be shopping,” is a common sentiment in the dude-bro world of finance.
According to Forbes, women make up 85% of all consumer spending, but this is often seen in a very negative light. Painting women as inherently financially irresponsible is plain ole sexism, but the women who perpetuate it are doing everyone a disservice.
The beginning of women pulling the pocketbooks was during the 1950s. Women left the factories and settled in the suburbs. White women needed something to do, so that is where shopping came in. After the trauma of the Great Depression, and World War II, luxuries were in. With increased demand, things became cheaper and the post-war economic boom led to more disposable income.
Currently, the average household spends $18,000 on non-necessities every year, and consumption is at an all-time high according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumers are in more debt than ever before, and the bubble is looking like it’s going to pop more every day.
The constant evolution of beauty standards keep women poor. The average woman in her 20s pays, sit down for me really quick, $9,314 a year on beauty treatments according to yahoo! finance. That’s more than my yearly rent. As podcaster and author of “Rich Girl Nation” Katie Gatti Tassin put it “women are in a constant ‘hot girl hamster wheel.’”
When we think of money wasting hobbies, your mind might go to getting your nails done, or the ever-present millennial-oat-milk-latte-tasting. But what about golf? Hours on the green, $6,000 dollar clubs, every round is what $100 dollars if you do not have a membership. Do not take this as me being a golf hater, I can hit the range occasionally. But why is it that only women’s hobbies are seen as frivolous?
Campus News Editor Audrey Elwood argues that the act women put on about not understanding finances is hurting their image.
Women experience money differently. The majority of stay-at-home parents are women, and if there are not proper boundaries, it can put women into horrific situations. Money presents options, and if you are not in control of any of your household’s finances, then you have no options. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, women who experience financial abuse are five times more likely to face physical abuse.
I hate the self-infantilization of women surrounding money. Saying, “But I’m just a girl I don’t know about money,” is so embarrassing, especially when I hear business majors say it. According to Fidelity, women are better at investing than men. Despite what you have been told, households where women control the budget, perform better.
Your gender is not the reason you do not know about finances, your lack of education is. Get that education girl, Malala did not do all that for nothing. It might be a joke, but words mean things, and eventually you might believe it.
Women have been taught from an early age that men are the pinnacle of the financial world. Anyone who has ever seen a man sports bet, knows this is inherently not true. I can not blame women for being uncomfortable around money, that’s how we have been socialized.
You need to break the stigma.
Read a book on finance, or look at your dreaded bank account statement. We need to stop pretending that women are inept, we just have not been given the resources often. For the love of everything holy, have a get out fund before giving up your job to be a stay-at-home mom. When women win financially, we all win.