Doing this assignment was actually very interesting and eye-opening. I never realized how little variety and diversity there is in our shopping malls. For those who do not fit into the 'norm' here in canada - in other words for those who are not thin, young, white canadians - it would be a little intimidating. There were still some options available but they were all very limited and hard to find.
In the toy section, the large majority of barbie dolls or action figures were white. In fact there were only 7 in the entire store that were not white. If someone was looking for anything featuring an native american or aboriginal person they would be completely out of luck because there was not a single team mascot or any other item featuring a native american.
In the card section of the store there were only twelve christmas cards because it is not yet christmas season. There were no cards for any other religious holiday such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. The romance cards section is very large, yet amongst the dozens of cards for heterosexual couples, not a single card for a homosexual or transexual couple were available.
The modeling industry is centered on featuring thin, young white people or families and that is all that is seen in stores as well. All signs in the store pictured young healthy adults. There were no signs featuring people who were over 60 yaers of age. Even in the plus size women's section (called Women's 18+), there were no pictures featuring overweight women. There is no section for plus-size men. It seems that those who fit into the stereotype are supposed to be happier and more normal and so they are portrayed more often in stores. Similarly, the majority of filler picture inside picture frames were of young white people. There were 2 featuring latinos, 2 featuring asians, and 6 featuring african americans, all of which fall short of the number featuring white people.
Other than the actual items fitting a stereotype, the physical layout of the store also is arranged in a way that is exclusive. Those who cannot walk normally without assistance would have much difficulty manoevering between the racks of clothes and down crowded aisles. Although the racks were of fairly good height for everyone, it would still recquire a stretch for those in wheelchairs. Simply spacing out the store a little bit more would make shopping more convenient and easier for all people.
The workers at the store and all of the customers were all of varied age, gender and ethnicity.
