The Daily Mail claims that shopping can actually make men impotent. “Now men have the perfect excuse to avoid shopping,” says the headline — but do dudes really so loathe the consumerist arts?
According to the Mail‘s Kate Loveys, cash register receipts contain the compound bisphenol A, which can affect male sex hormones. Says urologist Frank Sommer, “In the long term, this leads to less sexual drive, encourages the belly instead of the muscles to grow and has a bad effect on erection and potency.” Of course, bisphenol A has to be ingested to do any of that, and since it also appears in canned food, receipts really seem to be the least of men’s worries — unless they’re shoving them in their mouths. But the Mail appears to think guys could actually be that inept — the accompanying pic shows a guy in pajamas, paralyzed in the juice aisle. Are men really so shopophobic they can’t even manage to purchase some V8?
Yeah, no. While some men bear out the common stereotype (says intern Noorain, “Most of the men in my life hate shopping. Except for electronics”), others turn it on its head. Irin reports that her brother, a self-described “devoted metrosexual,” loves to shop. And it’s not just the more metro types who enjoy retail therapy — Katy’s ex, who “also liked fixing up vintage motorcycles and favored really simple (read: not fashion-y) clothes,” was totally into shopping. I have not one but two exes who liked to shop, neither of whom was particularly “fashion-y.” Both also loved to help me pick out clothes, and the pieces one of them chose still get me more compliments than anything I’ve picked out myself. There are hazards to this, however: Sadie says her boyfriend is “too into it and very opinionated so I don’t go with him anymore.”
Of course, there’s more to shopping than clothes (or electronics) and plenty of men have non-sartorial shopping addictions. For Irin’s dad, it’s Costco. For Jenna’s, it’s “bicycle parts made out of carbon fibre and other high-tech leisure-related stuff,” sold on eBay. The point is, spending a lot of time selecting something you want isn’t an exclusively female pursuit, nor is dropping money as a recreational activity. And guys can probably be trusted to pick out some decent juice — as long as they don’t eat the receipt.
Image via Temych/Shutterstock.com.
Now Men Have The Perfect Excuse To Avoid Shopping … It Could Make Them Impotent [Daily Mail]