Advertising, Marketing & Stereotypes

From the press release:

As we struggle with global conflict, economic uncertainty and bloated personal debt, is it really true that the American Dream – our Founding Fathers' vision for "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" – is slipping away? Maybe not. A new multi-generational study of 800 women across the U.S. reveals that the dream has not gone away, but it has changed.

1. The white picket fence has vanished. Women today are more realistic and less idealistic. Visions of the classic suburban home, 2.5 kids and being financially supported by a successful husband are a thing of the past.
2. A sense of humanity prevails. The world has been spinning out of control and women are taking responsibility for making it a better place. She's re-setting the moral compass, and her need for giving back and being socially responsible has never been stronger.
3. The freedom to choose. Individuality reigns. Society no longer dictates how women should live their lives. Women of all ages feel they can have it all.

Awakening to the desires of older women: Deconstructing ageism within fashion magazines [fee]

The controversial blog post has since been removed from Psychology Today's site.

Responses to and commentary on the post from 

• Slate's The Root
• Feministing
• Feministe
• The Telegraph (UK)
• NPR
• The Huffington-Post

Update, May 27, 2011: An Apology from Psychology Today

Update, June 6, 2011: "Psychology Today" Fires Contributor

"Apparently, we're all a paycheck away from being like Carrie Bradshaw and blowing $40,000 on Manolo Blahniks instead of saving for a down payment on an apartment. We all have an inner Rebecca Bloomwood, the protagonist in the Shopaholic series. We need help. Not really.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that single men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 spend at similar levels. The main difference is that single men spend more on transportation, while single women spend more on apparel and services. (Men, incidentally, spend about twice as much on alcohol and $600 more on car purchases.) As for credit, men and women aren't that different. A higher proportion of women carry some credit card debt compared with men—76 percent to 67 percent. But men on average carry higher dollar amounts of debt. According to Experian, a global credit group, credit scores—a measure of fiscal responsibility—show virtually no difference between men and women.When it comes to investing, women may actually be savvier. A 2001 study titled "Boys Will Be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence, and Common Stock Investment" analyzed 35,000 households and found that men traded stocks nearly 50 percent more often than women, driving up their costs and lowering their returns. And women, it appears, are less likely to invest in the types of exotic financial products that caused the Dow to go spiraling. In a nationwide survey of hundreds of investors in March 2009, one in eight men, but only one in every 40 women, had "made riskier investments looking for long-term growth" in the previous week."