Encounter at Sears Part 2 (My Take on This Matter)

It Started So Innocently:

Yesterday, I went boot shopping for Gina, who needed a replacement pair. It seems that her old pair finally lost its sole and so I decided to get her a new pair for her birthday. We visited several places, but ended up at the mall, which was not my first choice. Still, we decided that it was our last hope of finding something that she liked and was in her size (she has tiny, tiny feet making the venture even more challenging).

            We entered the mall through the Sears entrance. Sears always takes me back to the 1970s, when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time in Sears with my dad when I was a kid because he was and is a man who worked with his hands and built furniture. The layout of any Sears store has stayed the same since that time, so you end up feeling like you’ve travelled through time. No matter what Sears you enter there are always two things that are certain—the scent of tires and a department filled with Craftsman tools. This Sears is no exception.

            Now, readers, we all know that Craftsman tools have a pretty common color scheme—red, black, gray—you know---the colors some deem to be “man” colors (if you are a fan of Parks and Recreation, then you can probably even imagine Ron Swanson owning several boxes of these tools in “man” colors. He is so manly.).  I guess this makes sense since “man” is part of the brand name.

            Imagine our surprise yesterday when we entered the hardware department of Sears at our local mall and saw boxes and tools of a different color:

 How Will You Use Your Pink Box?

Gina and I stopped and stared. Then we both started giggling. Gina said, “It’s like they think if we pick up regular tools we might just set on fire!” More giggling. I knew this sort of thing had been going on with tools, but to see it right there on the shelf in front of me was just too funny. We then searched the department for other instances of pink-i-fied tools. It seems that Sears wanted a one-stop-shop for women looking to make a fashion statement with their tools because that was the only end-cap with tools of that color. I love the sign at the top of the end-cap:


Apparently, who ever created the signage certainly didn’t think women used tools for any serious tool-using moments at her house despite the box and wrenches and pliers hanging on the end cap yesterday. The salesman wandered up as we began taking pictures, probably because we were giggling a bit too loud, were taking pictures,  and, more importantly,  he was bored. He told us that usually the cap was filled with other tools besides the ones we noted. I wanted to ask if women actually purchased these things or if men purchased them for their women. I wish I had.

            What makes any marketer think that a woman will purchase a tool based on the fact that it’s pink or any other “female” color? I know when I’m trying to hammer a nail into the wall or screw my new desk together or change a tire, the first thing I think of is definitely, “Oh no! I can’t do this job! I have no pink tools! Let me call one of my many male friends. I don’t want to set on fire because I used tools that weren’t pink.” 
            Also notice the question on the sign: “How will you use your Pink Box?” The first answer on the bottom border is make-up.  Really?! Is there some marketing guru who actually thinks that I will spend $599 on a pink metal box with ball bearing slides and store my make-up in it?!

            After we took pictures and giggled for about fifteen minutes, we left talking about the whole idea that someone thought it would be a good thing to market things that should be not-gender-specific as things that are gender-specific. It hit me that whoever created this idea was probably from my generation. This frustrated me a bit.

Talking 'Bout My Generation:

            My generation was raised watching Gloria Steinem burn bras and march for the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). We were told that women had as much right as men to hold positions of power and importance, and that we could do anything if we wanted to do it bad enough. We were the generation who saw women go into space and break the glass ceiling. Our generation was supposed to be the generation that saw the day where our gender didn’t matter.

            And yet, my generation creates tools that are pink and marketed toward women. It also creates Legoâ play sets especially for girls that don’t work with the blocks or sets built for boys.

            I realize that it is a small thing. Pink is a good color and girls do need toys, right? I just don’t understand why it is that we have to continue to create these boxes for ourselves. If I need a hammer, making it pink isn’t going to be a motivating factor for purchasing that hammer. If I need a tool belt, I want something sturdy and pocketed properly, not a couple of pink canvas bags strung together with a canvas belt. When I see this sort of thing in a hardware department, I don’t feel special (like I think the marketer would think I’d feel). I feel marginalized.

            Shouldn’t we know better? Did we learn nothing growing up?