Gender Observation At Starbucks

1396 Words6 Pages
For this assignment on gender observation in a public space, I decided to observe the customers of Starbucks. I was meeting a friend at five at the Starbucks by the college conservatory of music and decided to come an hour earlier to observe the differences in how men and women treat their coffee experiences. I noticed that men and women both fidget with their phones when standing by themselves and that women are much more cautious of what they put into their coffee and that women tended to order more ‘girly’, while men ordered the ‘manly’ drinks. My observations of men and women pretty much upheld the stereotypes and standards that society places on each gender. I was sitting close to the table with the sugar, cream and other coffee fixings. Men would be much more lenient about putting more into their coffee, while women were more cautious about it. Men would just dump milk or cream into their cup and most of the women would slowly pour it in and measure, making sure they were not putting too much in. Men would put more sugar into their coffee also not paying much attention to how much. Sweet N’ Low and Splenda were almost always used by women and men would use the large shaker of pure sugar opposed to the packets. I’ve noticed that my dad does the same type of thing and I always though it must just be something my father does, but after observing a few men, I have noticed that a lot of men tend to put so much cream and sugar in their coffee that it barely even tastes like coffee anymore. I wonder if women have a higher tolerance for stronger coffee or if women are worried about adding extra calories to their drinks. Being in a public place, the women may prepare their coffee differently in fear that someone may see them as weak or are conforming to the stereotype that as a woman, we need to constantly be watching every single morsel we put into our mouths. I

More about Gender Observation At Starbucks

Open Document