Feature - A Woman's Place is in the Home:
Making Decisions about Home Theater Equipment - March, 1995

By Jeanne Fairbrook

Alright, maybe guys are more interested in hooking up speakers than we are. On the other hand, we probably could do the job easier, because our fingers are smaller, and we could tighten those darn binding posts that are mounted so close together in modern speaker designs. But I am not here to write about anatomy. I just want to let all you fellas know, especially the ones who are in equipment sales, that women are becoming more interested now that home theater takes the sound system out of your den and into the living room where we get to enjoy it too. And we don't appreciate being ignored at the chain audio/video stores or the high end shops now that we are an important part of the decision making process.

Yeah, we put up with the fact that you salespeople talked to our husbands rather than us way back when, but now that we are very likely to be working women bringing home half the bacon, we suggest that you start paying attention to us, or we may just stop payment on the check. We like quality as much as you do, although we may be a bit more concerned about how it fits into the decor than you.

At the CES this year, I was ignored by most of the staff in the high end booths. One booth did make an attempt to help me without my asking. When I walked in, someone pointed me to a table that had a brochure on it. The brochure was a description of an electronic bulletin board for wives to talk about women things on Internet. You know, pots and pans and such. I was really quite insulted by this, and I am sure other women at the CES had similar experiences. We invite them to write and express their views.

The point is this. Home theater is where all the action is taking place these days, and we enjoy home theater as much as men do. Smart companies will realize this and change their sales practices to accommodate us. Foolish companies will continue to assume audio/video is a male thing, and go belly up.

Jeanne Fairbrook
Staff Writer
USA

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