By Maya Brown

Her eyes are crazed, her tan glows under the florescent lights, and her hair springs from its tight bun as she pushes past everyone to land that first spot in line.

Every year millions of American women make their way to stores at 5 a.m., midnight — even 9pm the day before — to shop on Black Friday. But why? Why do they pack up the Thanksgiving leftovers, tuck their kids into bed, and drive to the nearest Kohls or Target to spend on an average more than $350 each? Because media and marketers tell them to.

It happens every year: the commercials advertise a mad dash for Black Friday. The media sells an image of a crazed middle-class mother, desperately grabbing the best deals before anyone else. Because good mothers, we’re told, buy lots of things, the best things, the latest things, for their kids. According to Target commercials they must prepare for this day because it is only then they will prove their worth in the suburban mother community.

Why? Because women are consumers. Women care about material things and, be definition, must be utterly obsessed with shopping. Face it, Christmas is stressful, especially for moms; their worth is measured by whether or not they get everyone everything they need right away. Forget just being with family during the holiday season; if you haven’t bought your husband his electric screwdriver and Cindy her new cell phone (in stereotypical fashion), you are a failure as a woman and a mother. They must also wear pearls and perfectly pink sweats and heels while shopping.

Black Friday doesn’t just mean shopping, then, it means competition. To be successful we’re told that women must revel in pushing other shoppers out of the way and grabbing what is rightfully theirs. This is the adult version of girl fighting, except this time it’s not about boys, it’s about products. And the underlying message?  The only way to be happy this holiday is to buy things, spend more money, and be first in line on Black Friday.

Companies are smart; they know that every mother wants to please her child. So they feed women the idea that in order to be one of those perfect mothers who cook all day and are head of the PTA, they must go shopping all the time. The media pairs shopping with the stereotypical thin housewife. You know, the one who wears heels on the treadmill. They easily trap women in a box that tells them how a mother is supposed to act in order to be successful. Companies show us that women are only as good as the products they buy. Women are being told that they are not complete by themselves; they must buy things to be whole.

Women are being sold the idea that shopping is fun and being a consumer is vital. This very idea is how sexualization can so easily be promoted. Women are conditioned to believe that what they buy is what makes them who they are. And of course who are they, so media says, besides what attractive to men.

The same box that makes women into crazy shoppers also holds the self-improving and sexualized products they must consume. Because as a woman you are not perfect unless you are attractive to others, and how do you make yourself attractive? By buying products of course! So strap on those heels, clunk up to register and buy you some beauty products. This is the most wonderful time of the year.