Althouse: "Shoplifting... has long been viewed as a women’s crime, a relative of bulimia and other 'female appetite diseases.'"

June 29, 2011

"Shoplifting... has long been viewed as a women’s crime, a relative of bulimia and other 'female appetite diseases.'"

"Freud’s disciples linked it to repressed sexuality."

34 comments:

rhhardin said...: The local town, on Sunday before the drugstore is open, has a pile of newspapers in the doorway where they are left by the truck.

As the early morning wears on, the pile shrinks, compensated for by a growing pile of money on top.

Fly-over country, to the NYT.; 6/29/11, 10:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Wynona Ryder would disagr ... oh, wait.

Um.

Lindsey Lohan would disa ... oh, wait.

Um.

Megan Fox would ... oh the hell with it.; 6/29/11, 10:54 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: 'female appetite diseases.'

That's a good one. Said out in the open and everything. Whatever you do, don't call them "mad," though. As they're breaking down in hormonal horrors, or lashing out from feeling bloated or whatever, and you're doing your best to manage it all with grace and all the love you can muster, just don't call them "mad."

It won't matter, mind you, but just don't.; 6/29/11, 10:55 AM
gerry said...: Rad chic.

The article even cites Emma Goldman.

Shoplifting: poor man's socialism.; 6/29/11, 10:58 AM
Carol_Herman said...: Is shoplifting impulsive?

Or can some people be trained to do this? I had read there were schools for scoundrels.

I never thought women operated these schools, either.

Nursing was about the only profession I can think of, where women predominated both in the ranks. And, as their teachers.; 6/29/11, 11:02 AM
Shanna said...: So, are there statistics to backup the "women's crime" idea? I remember my little brother and his friend shoplifting something when they were kids.; 6/29/11, 11:09 AM
Hagar said...: Older sisters never forget!; 6/29/11, 11:21 AM
edutcher said...: Sounds more like an upper-middle class/hippie, "I want it and I want it right now" entitlement thing.

Idiots like Abbie Hoffman gave it that "radical" patina to make it feel cool.

More Speaking Truth To Power. Like the public sector unions trying to mob Scott Walker the other day.

PS If the Gray Lady is trying to strike a blow for Womyn with this piece, all they made them look was slutty.; 6/29/11, 11:33 AM
jeff said...: "Freud’s disciples linked it to repressed sexuality."

Freud's disciples link everything to repressed sexuality.

Don't use your turn signal for turning left? There you go. Repressed sexuality.; 6/29/11, 11:34 AM
traditionalguy said...: But Freud saw every motive of every person as repressed sexuality. By that view point all men and women were suffering from a disease that he could cure for lots of money. It was a "scientific"con feeding off the bored wives of rich men. Stealing is stealing no matter how hostile a thief feels about the strangers he/she is intentionally hurting. And then there was the greatest theft in world history called Marxist Science treating the disease of bad distribution of money between classes at gun point. And we have our own Pol Pot smoothly engineering our defeat so his gang will get to steal what we have left.; 6/29/11, 11:41 AM
Peter said...: I suppose one could make a distinction between "serious" shoplifting, and less-serious or impulsive shoplifting.

"Serious" shoplifting is often shoplifting stuff so it can be resold. Typically this involves something that has a high value for its size, and can be easily resold. The obvious example is expensive razor blades (at least when they're not packaged in huge blister packs). They're small, valuable, and can be resold to mom&pop stores.

And then there's the impulsive shove-it-in-pocket-or-purse shoplifting. Although Occam's Razor would seem to select "I want it but don't want to pay for it" as the best explanation, it fails when the thief has so much money that the price of what was stolen must be insignificant.

How many people steal stuff because they don't want to wait in a long checkout line?; 6/29/11, 11:49 AM
ndspinelli said...: Shoplifting is a passive-aggressive crime. Women are much more passive-aggressive than men. There are enough complex issues and problems w/o adding the simple ones to the list.; 6/29/11, 12:01 PM
edutcher said...: traditionalguy said...

But Freud saw every motive of every person as repressed sexuality. By that view point all men and women were suffering from a disease that he could cure for lots of money. It was a "scientific"con feeding off the bored wives of rich men.

No, there was a lot of sexual repression when he developed his theories. He practiced in the 1880s and a lot of men and women were sublimating a lot of what they couldn't even contemplate in their own minds.

Less con than some want to believe. Since then, another story in some cases.; 6/29/11, 12:06 PM
Skippy said...: Crack Emcee, you really hate women. No wonder your wife dumped you.; 6/29/11, 12:09 PM
JAL said...: As a kid I shop lifted a comb and something else at a "5 and Dime" (Murray's ;-) ).

The owner stopped me at the door. He threatened to tell my parents.

I never shop lifted again.

When I was an undergraduate a roommate was the daughter of a congressman from a northeast state.

She and a friend on more than one occasion went shoplifting. For fun, I guess. Neither were poor by a long shot. I found it disturbing.

I thought her father, (who I now see was a WWII hero) would have been horrified.

Wasn't it here (Althouse) where the pictures of 19th century criminals were posted? Ragged clothing and to jail or hard labor for stealing boots, chickens or clothing.; 6/29/11, 12:10 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Shoplifting is a passive-aggressive crime. Women are much more passive-aggressive than men. There are enough complex issues and problems w/o adding the simple ones to the list.

A friend had a slightly different view, that women are sneakier than men. And, her daughter was caught stealing underwear, just as a woman of my generations, but with much richer parents, was caught back in her teens.

The passive aggressive might fit in there though. In both cases, the girls came from fairly affluent to very affluent families, and the parents were mortified - mostly, I think, at the idea that the stores might think that they are cutting corners with the underwear that they buy their daughters.

We are though seeing a different type of theft these days, guys going in, ripping stuff off, and daring anyone to do anything about it. Not quite sure if this constitutes shoplifting, but if it does, it is the opposite of sneaky.; 6/29/11, 12:13 PM
ricpic said...: What about the female appetite to go on and on saying less and less, aka Carol Herman?; 6/29/11, 12:42 PM
jamboree said...: There are different psychologies and reasons.

We shoplifted for a while as kids around age 9-11. It was the lure of learning that we could step outside the adult rules w/o immediately being hit by lightening.

In hindsight, that was a valuable lesson because as you get older, there are very real societal limitations (not actual "laws" per se) imposed upon you that you need to realize you can break or bend in a Matrix kind of way.

It wasn't need or appetite, it was the adrenaline, bonding (Think "Stand By Me") and the confidence needed to pull it off successfully. At one point the game was to walk out with the biggest thing you could manage -with the one condition that you weren't allowed to hide it. You had to pull it off by attitude alone. We returned the stuff that time after about 1/2 an hour.

We couldn't understand the girls that stole earrings to actually wear. They were the ones that had much older boyfriends (say a 12-yr-old with a 20-yr-old) and were beyond our comprehension.

Anyway, we grew out of it. Surrounded by good parents everywhere I go, I can no longer admit the positive things I learned from the experience in public.; 6/29/11, 1:04 PM
Shanna said...: Older sisters never forget!

Ha! It was just so stupid. He took boxer shorts at the urging of a friend and promptly got caught. I told him if he ever wanted something badly enough to steal it he should call me and I would get it for me. He was embarassed (probably by my parents more than me :) I'm pretty sure that's the last time he did anything like that.

I know it's a pretty common thing for teenagers, but I never got it. I think theft is a really terrible crime and should get harsher punishment them it does. It's a shame the cops don't seem to care.; 6/29/11, 1:25 PM
bagoh20 said...: OK, I see a theme now:

Women are out of control, and we just have to deal with it. They can't help their sweet little selves.; 6/29/11, 1:29 PM
bagoh20 said...: It's all hysterical.; 6/29/11, 1:29 PM
ricpic said...: It's all hysterical.

So what if the little lady left an axe in his skull, it was just a hissy fit, temporary insanity, no big deal.; 6/29/11, 1:43 PM
erictrimmer said...: Why is the term "shoplifting" even necessary. Why not just say "theft," or if you want to be more specific, "retail theft." That's what state laws usually call it.

I wonder if the book gets into the origin of the term. Maybe it's political.; 6/29/11, 1:47 PM
Squid said...: But shoplifting is wrong! If everybody who needed stuff just took it from corporate fatcats, what would we need a Congress for?; 6/29/11, 2:32 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Skippy,

Crack Emcee, you really hate women. No wonder your wife dumped you.

Ohhhh - hit with a purse! Very unoriginal.

While I know it's bullshit, I'm more interested in how simpleminded the thinking that comes up with that idea is:

Why is my "hate" for women always portrayed as existing BEFORE my wife left? Oh yeah - because that's THE ONLY WAY she stays a saint and I can be portrayed as an asshole.

I mean, if a wife leaves, doesn't it make sense that what SHE did would TURN the man against women? And, if that's true, then wouldn't his anger be justified because SHE was a female Anthony Weiner? And, if he was married for 20 years, then he HAD to have some qualities that drew her to him and got her stay for so long, right?

No, - HE'S JUST A FUCKING MONSTER.

And, of course, she's a fucking saint - and every man is the devil incarnate for saying he happily put up with her shit, while also noticing she and her "sisters" crap didn't come out in pink plastic bags. Boo-fucking-hoo.

And, more to your point, what says I've got to like women - or even people? They ain't always so fucking accommodating. What if I'm the black dude in that Tom T. Hall song, saying the only things men can rely on are "dogs and children and watermelon wine"? What then, you no-brain-cell-having motherfucker?

I mean - seriously - why do I have to like ANYBODY when I know, for the rest of my fucking life, I'm going to be surrounded by idiots like you? What will be the justification for it? "You light up my life"? No - the guy who wrote that song was a fucking perv - so what's to like? I got your dumb ass and a fucking perv to rely on for happiness. Get the fuck outta here.

I'm happy fucking enough.; 6/29/11, 2:44 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Um, to the regulars, I'd like to point out I didn't once mention the other stuff my wife did.

This is called "growth," right?; 6/29/11, 2:49 PM
Shanna said...: Why is my "hate" for women always portrayed as existing BEFORE my wife left?

I for one always thought it was the other way around, fwiw.

Shoplifting does sound like a "cutesy" term meant to sound better than plain old theft. "Shoplifter" verses "thief".; 6/29/11, 2:59 PM
Lydia said...: It’s hard to see how Crack Emcee can be called a woman-hater, since he’s just about the only one around here who wholeheartedly respects and supports Sarah Palin.; 6/29/11, 3:11 PM
Phil 314 said...: It’s hard to see how Crack Emcee can be called a woman-hater, since he’s just about the only one around here who wholeheartedly respects and supports Sarah Palin.

Because Sarah Palin's not a real woman....

Just kidding

(But I swear I read that somewhere.); 6/29/11, 3:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Um, to the regulars, I'd like to point out I didn't once mention the other stuff my wife did.

This is called "growth," right?

You're a very funny man, Crack.; 6/29/11, 4:54 PM
From Inwood said...: As someone has said:

What you call “Shoplifting” is not illegal; that’s just an affect of your concept of Rich Man's Property Rights. Rather it is just goods that were in the store at the opening of business on a given day but which were undocumented at the close of business!; 6/29/11, 5:04 PM
Biff said...: Freud was a fraud.

There's a reason why he is studied more intently in the Philosophy Department than in the Psychology Department.; 6/29/11, 5:26 PM
JAL said...: To Crack:

This is called "growth," right?

Yup, you know some of us care about you buddy.; 6/29/11, 5:30 PM
JAL said...: Hubby and I were in a TSC (Tractor Supply Company for those coasties) last week and I strayed into the clothing area (hard to call it a "department" to check out cheapie sale jeans.

Hubby says to me from about 6 feet away "That guy just shoplifted."

"That guy" was a good ole boy looking 50s something guy in jeans, shirt, and a ball cap. Wifey was middle aged plump woman in a pink teeshirt with sparkles and some kind of graphic. "He stuck a pair of jeans down his pants!" said hubby to me.

So he went over to the cash register and told the clerk. The clerk looked over (couple was still "shopping,") and phoned someone in back.

While he waited the couple turned and walked out the door and as he went the guy lazily scratched his side, lifting up his shirt and I could see the top of something -- not his underwear -- sticking up over his waistband.

Turns out no one came up from the back of the store, and the clerk said there was nothing he could do. The jeans were electronically tagged, but the store didn't have the alarm set up.

From now on I will loudly and verbally address the issue.

HEY! DID YOU JUST SEE THAT GUY STUFF THOSE JEANS IN HIS PANTS!! WOW! WHAT A JERK!!

If they aren't going to get arrested, at least they need some publicity.

Shoplifting is one of those forms of evil that masquerades as nothing special.

Hey you. You're stealing from *me.*; 6/29/11, 5:44 PM