What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly, Book Review Example

Abstract

In What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly, author Paco Underhill ostensibly presents a modern and comprehensive examination of the variety of roles women are playing in global commerce, both in passive and active fashions. Largely anecdotal in style, the book is far more one man’s viewpoints on gender roles in the modern world, and a great deal less about global marketing, female or otherwise. The most compelling aspect of the book, and very likely a large factor in its successful reception, is that it is composed by a man. Underhill treads carefully throughout, aware of the implicit risk of condescending, yet he in no substantial or meaningful way actually treats with his chosen subject.

Overview

Author Paco Underhill has to his credit as well, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. Having established himself as an expert voice in marketing, he now turns his attention to the role gender plays in global commerce in What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly.

The subject itself is one widely discussed and written about, and similar books and articles are increasingly appearing to address it. The fact is that recent decades have not only empowered women in terms of consumerism and employment opportunities, a simultaneous expanding of how consumerism operates on a world-wide level has exponentially impacted on the activity of women in these spheres.

From an introduction wherein Underhill plainly lists the force women possess in consumer markets, he both sets his tone and stakes out his territory. The tone is reminiscent of that of popular author Bill Bryson, in that facts are presented in an offhand and sometime wry, amusing manner.  The introduction is in fact lengthy and comprehensive; Underhill sets out sections within it, to focus upon ‘safety’, ‘cleanliness’ and ‘control’ elements associated with female behavior and, to his eyes, frequently misapplied.

The book itself is presented as broken up into successive chapters combining  the most recent statistics and facts with examinations into the domesticity aspects of traditional female behaviors, how that plays into a woman’s actions in a busy global marketplace and on the home front, and what the expected repercussions may be for all concerned. Based upon the style of the introduction and the chapter titles, which are clever plays-on-words, Underhill sets off to present an anecdotal, reader-friendly, and ultimately encouraging portrait of women in the global markets today.

Early Chapters

In ‘Housequake’, Underhill commences, and at substantial length, to take a very personalized look at how the concept of the family home has changed. He spends a good deal of time having fun with the modern and sterile ‘mansion’ as product of the Internet age’s affluence, and he sets this unpleasant and undesirable model up against the more classic, middle-class American home. He even draws on his own childhood memories in capturing the confusion, disorder, and generally cramped way of living these house provided, yet he does so with genuine affection.

Conspicuously absent in many pages here is any reference to women or how this factor has impact on the subject of his book. Yet it is possible that Underhill is merely laying the groundwork for a forthcoming assault; in ‘Housequake’, he is adamantly on the side of the old-fashioned homes and, more importantly, the communities in which they existed. He makes no apologies for lashing out – albeit in a good-natured way – at stylish and isolated homes because he judges them to be guilty of fostering an alienation which upset the roles in living women both wanted to fulfill and were raised to perform. Modern life, as encapsulated by Underhill, left the modern woman with a family stranded.

From an actual listing of the unattractive physical elements found in upscale and isolated homes today, one that relentlessly touches upon the sterility and lifelessness of them, the author begins to touch upon what seems to be the core of the chapter: in his eyes, no sane woman would actually choose to live in such an environment, and the proliferation of such homes is the result of blind and ignorant male ambition. Men, Underhill feels, simply don’t know any better. The gender is incapable of perceiving the rhythms and needs of societal life as a woman can, so they simply erect and purchase living spaces which are contrary to good living.

The chapter is engaging and informative in its way. Yet Underhill strays too far from his field, and too immediately. It is not difficult to detect his strategy here but it would be better served with occasional links, or at least references, to how this domestic situation translates to the vastly greater role women are playing in global markets. While it is entertaining and seemingly valid, the chapter opens the book in too personal, reminiscent, and philosophical a manner.

In the next chapter, slyly entitled ‘Don’t Phunk with My Hearth’, the author carries on both the good qualities of the first chapter and accentuates its flaws. He begins with a lengthy dissection of a modern, fully equipped kitchen and it is evident that he harbors no great love for it. This chapter is most revelatory in that it expresses, more than even the first, Underhill’s deep affinity for the domestic bent he believes to be at the heart of women generally. It is obvious that he is exceedingly familiar with the kitchen as the center of the woman’s universe, but this is not conveyed in a sexist manner. Underhill exalts it.

This is the reasoning behind the chapter’s excessive delving into modern appliances and what he views as a tidal wave of them striking today’s woman. He never overtly says so, but it becomes apparent that Underhill’s sympathy, or even empathy, with women is all the more pronounced because of this. He alludes to a world wherein women are simultaneously encouraged to get out and play an active role while being handed device after device intended to make this happen more expeditiously, but which in fact only serve to drag her down.

Again, it must be noted that the author is taking a great deal of time to approach his key subject matter. There is evident value in Underhill’s examinations here, certainly in a sociological context. His points are well-presented. He even scrupulously refers to governmental actions taken in regard to how obesity derives from less cooking at home, and has instigated mandated cooking classes in Great Britain, all of which is a by-product of the woman’s inability to cope with the new mechanisms in her own kitchen. Unfortunately, Underhill presents virtually no supporting evidence in any of this. He quotes no statistical analysis, nor does he offer up study conclusions to support his views.

Moreover, there is no focus here, or at least nothing that remotely feels like it is addressing an aspect of the author’s real subject matter. If his intent is to show that, disenfranchised from the very roles they have been conditioned and expected to perform, women have consequently become a far more active presence in the commercial world, the reader can’t help but feel that this sentiment could be conveyed in a single concise chapter, at best. The author seriously damages his own intent in so laboriously going over the same territory. It is highly readable and often informative, but the impression received by the reader is that two full chapters have gone by without treating with the subject at hand.

Further Reading

Moving on, we come to ‘Let Us Spray’, a chapter not surprisingly devoted to bathrooms, how women feel about them, and the general attitudes women possess in regard to cleanliness. It is at this juncture that the reader draws an unfortunate conclusion: the book is clearly far less about the facts and dynamics of how women operate in the restless and massive global marketplace, and far more a personal expression of one man’s views on gender roles in general.    He actually opens the chapter by referring to “today’s frazzled female”, which points to an irrefutably old-fashioned sensibility at play. Extensive amounts of copy are devoted to how soap has changed in today’s bathroom, as well as seemingly unnecessary and obtuse comparisons with Japanese style of bathrooms. There is some attention paid, not unexpectedly, to how women perceive bathrooms. However, in this as in other instances wherein a female attitude is presented, no empirical data is employed. Underhill here, as he does elsewhere, provides an anecdote or two from someone he knows and that opinion is set forth as a conclusive statement. Equally not surprising is that these opinions validate Underhill’s own.

The body of What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly follows, regrettably, the same trajectory. In a chapter addressing how hotel rooms are seen by women, virtually the entire content is based upon the feelings of a single acquaintance of the author. She is a business traveler and she asserts that she prefers hotel rooms with earthy tones and pliable, soft furniture. That is all well and good, but Underhill completely ignores his responsibility as an author of a balanced book in presenting this as an accurate representation of female preference at large. This is highly unprofessional of him, for surely he could easily find a female business traveler who, perhaps tired of the bland colors in her own home, enjoys hotels that are vividly decorated.

In the chapter ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’, the reader may begin to hope that Underhill’s training as a marketing consultant will finally come to the fore, and he will at last begin to discuss what the theme of his book purports to be. This is true, but only to a minimal degree. Once again, the author chooses to portray a view of the office in the home. This is of course a pivotal factor in the empowering of women to work and impact upon the commercial world, yet Underhill veers more, and unaccountably so, to looking into the various devices and tools which comprise the home office. He examines how much printers cost and compares brands. It is for the reader a frustrating experience.

Yes, at one point, the author devotes a few paragraphs to women as actually employed in the home office. He does not, however, take this anywhere further, and most certainly not into global markets. Rather, he asserts his own conviction that the home office is for the modern woman a second ‘command center’, jointly used with her traditional domain of the kitchen. As is expected by this point, no empirical findings of any kind are presented to back up his feelings.

Successive chapters, unfortunately, do not improve. That is to say, they go no nearer to actually talking about women as global commercial agents than do the initial ones. Underhill moves forward in a seemingly erratic fashion, devoting various chapters to mall shopping, sexuality, and hair styling. In all of these he inserts an ostensibly relevant comment or two to reflect how the topic is indicative of today’s woman, yet these in themselves seem more like forced amendments, placed in order to justify, as much as possible, a title and subject he would far rather ignore.

Opinion

Paco Underhill’s book, as such, fails in that it simply does not live up to its title. While I found much of it charming and amusing, and while the author can clearly write in a literate and compelling way, there is no avoiding the fact the the book is a gross misrepresentation. Finishing it, I have the sense that Underhill truly wanted to write this but under a different, and hopefully more accurate, title. He does not in any way delve into the admittedly vast subject of the woman’s role in global markets of today; rather, he simply sets out his reactions and musings on how modern living has changed, with sporadic and unsupported comments on how women themselves react to these changes.

An increasing number of books are currently available which address how gender roles are affecting modern business sphere, with particular emphasis on women. Meg Whitman’s and Joan Hamilton’s The Power of Many: Values for Success in Business and in Life, Joyce Bone’s Millionaire Moms, and Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace by Kirsten Dellinger and Lisa Keister, all take specific aim at how women, as consumers and business leaders, are changing the manner in which business is done on a worldwide level. More will surely follow as the influence of women grows and we see more how this infusion of a gender long regarded as merely one to sell to affects the dynamics of commerce.

In this atmosphere of change, Underhill’s book actually stands out as old-fashioned. We are equipped today with means of assessing real impacts on the most minute financial levels and to and from virtually any demographic. Moreover, better understandings of the gender-related behavior in business has increased our understanding of this, simply because we can at last examine gender difference without being burdened by stereotypical expectations. Underhill makes use of almost no real research, even in this regard, choosing instead to rely on conversations personally had and his own observations.

These in themselves are not devoid of validity; Paco Underhill has carved out a highly respected career as a speaker as the “shopping anthropologist”, and his long career as a marketing consultant works well in concert with his wry, observational style. He has much to say about the dynamics of commerce, and much of it is insightful. However, any book put forth by a publisher as major as Simon & Schuster, and one with a title that inherently promises a comprehensive exploration of a complex modern issue, is obligated to treat with that issue in a responsibly academic way. Underhill’s book falls short, and drastically, in fulfilling this responsibility.

Summary

Paco Underhill distinguished himself in his first book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. In that well-received effort, his credentials and experience as a CEO and leading marketing consultant were put to good use, and a substantive treatment on the psychologies and patterns of commerce was delivered.

In  What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly, the author completely misses the mark. The book is a whimsically written and often enjoyable series of opinions from Underhill regarding many aspects of modern life, from newer designs in housing to shopping mall traffic. Yet there is little to no actual discussing of how women impact on global markets in today’s world. Far too much space is devoted to perhaps interesting side observations that only obliquely touch upon the larger issues.

Employing both personal recollections and conversations had with acquaintances, Underhill presents chapter after chapter in an unvarying form. He remarks upon the current state of a modern kitchen or bathroom, he spends time in thinking about how business women feel about the hotel rooms they must stay in, he draws a few conclusions about how he thinks women must feel about these things, and he generally take it no further. Even in his more business-oriented sections, such as that dealing with the rise of the home office and the subsequent empowering of women in business this afforded, he only barely touches upon what is set out as his central theme. In none of the book is empirical data used to support conclusions or viewpoints which appear to be solely prompted by the author’s own opinions. Underhill’s book is not bad; it is simply not at all what the reader expects it to be.