What Do Women Want?

Of all the questions men ask about women, the grandmother of them all is “What do they want?”

I can see why they’d be confused. After all, we send mixed messages. We say we want a good guy and we’re attracted to the bad boys. We want to be independent but we love being taken care of. We want professional recognition but are secretly thrilled when a guy says we’re pretty.

The age-old question “What do women want?” has been addressed by Hollywood a bazillion times, most literally in the 200 movie “What Women Want.” In this romantic comedy, Mel Gibson, an ad man, has an accident which renders him able to read women’s thoughts. He uses this gift to try to bring down his nemesis, a woman (Helen Hunt) who has been given the job he aspired to. Of course, he also learns what effect his chauvinistic behavior has had on the girls in the office and he ends up falling for the boss. After all, this is a rom-com, not a deep psychological treatise.

As it turns out, recent revelations have shown that Mel Gibson is exactly what women DON’T want – a raving lunatic of a boyfriend. But that’s beside the point.

When Gibson’s character is able to tune into women’s thoughts, it not only makes him a better man, it makes him a better advertising executive.

Theories of what women want (and therefore, what they’ll buy) is the premise of a new book by Paco Underhill, the “guru of retail consulting.” Underhill’s book is called “What Women Want: the Global Market Turns Female Friendly.”

“Maybe you’re aware,” states Underhill, “of the effect females have had on our culture.” He goes on to prove his point. Women dominate higher education, book the family vacations, buy the food and clothing, and generally control the wealth. And yet, very little attempt has been made at the retail level to cater to women and their wants and needs.

For instance, Underhill claims, women care deeply about the following:
1. Cleanliness. Our female instincts are on high alert for dirt in bathrooms, dressing rooms, hotel rooms, and restaurants. If we feel we are not in a clean environment, we won’t buy, or we won’t return.

2. Control. We don’t have to be in charge all the time, but we like having options. For instance, give us access to power over temperature, noise, and furniture placement and we’ll be good little consumers.

3. Safety. Underhill explain the female tendency to remain in the checkout line until our wallets are zipped back into our bags as a concern for personal safety that men don’t understand because they’ve never experienced it.

4. Considerateness, as in letting us know up front that you’ll load that huge TV we just bought into our car.

Underhill’s book goes on to detail how women’s sensibilities will (or should) eventually transform the world as we know it, from housing, to cars, to health care, to the workplace.

I see it happening, albeit slowly. And all it took was reaching the tipping point in who controls the wealth. That answers the question “What do men want?”

Apparently, they want our money.

© 2010 Mary Hanna