I wish I could browse this enticing retailer's shelves. It's one of these things that would never have come to my mind before I saw them. Is it really as bad as it looks? Is it worse? Do they sell porn in the left store and gardening manuals on the right? Is the women's section actually pretty much the same as the men's section, plus a few hundred insufferable romance novels with pastel coloured cover designs and a couple of first ladies' biographies? Do both sides sell standard works on military history and the financial crisis? Do both sell A brief history of time and Anne Frank's diary?
Even for the people whose world view this mirrors - would it be so bad to shop side by side with the mysterious other? It reminds me of unnecessarily genderspecific toilets and annoying books that just won't go away (think: Men are from mars...). I wish I could write an eloquent post about capitalism, stereotypes, stupid dichotomies, education and public spaces of consumption. But I'm tired, so I'll just share the picture with you and see what you think.
Picture courtesy of Anika (a friend who suffered many a boring lecture by my side in undergrad and, on good days, eloquently formed her despair into poetry that still adorns the walls of my old room). Taken in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
P.S.: If you saw a shop front like this, which side would you check out first? Would you browse both or only one? Would you have a good laugh and go buy your books somewhere else altogether? Do you think they have different criteria for employing staff in the two sections? How does Nashville feel about genderqueer people?
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