Words by Emily Bull (she/her)
Who is the Women’s Lifestyle Expo for?
For the past couple of years, my mum and I have gone to the Women’s Lifestyle Expo at TSB arena. However, each time I’ve been bombarded with detox shots, weight loss tea and low-calorie alcohol options. Not to mention the array of cooking and cleaning-related stalls—many of which were created and run by men. The whole expo has a sexist undertone, which forces me to question: who is the Women’s Lifestyle Expo really for?
As the Wellington Women’s Lifestyle Expo has passed, I’ve decided to have a look into what sorts of stalls will be at the upcoming Hamilton expo (run by the same people). Of the over 150 stalls I could find information on, I discovered the most common type of stall were ones that sold cosmetics or skincare, with a total of 27 stalls. Many of these stalls focused on 'natural skincare.'This was closely followed by food stalls (23), jewellery (16) and weight loss and fitness related products (15). A few of my favourite stalls include one which sells ‘holy’ hemp oil (I don’t understand what makes it holy), a candle stall which clearly uses multi-level marketing, and HRV for your home!
So, why is this a problem?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a woman who loves to cook, clean, or is super into her health. I personally am a massive foodie and love to cook and eat!
However, the issue occurs when these are the only types of stalls we see at the expo. It encourages women to fit into harmful gender stereotypes, when similar stalls would never be shown at a Men’s Expo.
Not to mention all the weight-loss promotion, when so many women have a history with eating disorders. Why am I being advertised for swimming classes for children, when there is the Baby Expo later in the year? Why are there so many stalls related to food and cooking when I can see those products at the Wellington Food Show? Being a woman is so much more than this, and I wish we could celebrate that instead.
A Broader Perspective
It’s important to note that not all the stalls at the expo are problematic. At the upcoming Hamilton women’s expo there are pole classes, a women’s only gym and a bunch of fashion businesses which are owned by women who design their own products. There are incredible artists and female-related non-profits, like insight endometriosis. Plus, it’s exciting to see that there are a couple of tertiary education stalls. If I was to create my own women’s expo, it would be an opportunity to celebrate stalls like these. A women’s expo should showcase female-owned business and give female-identifying artists a chance to share their work, not ‘funnel us into only things we are expected to do as women.’ (quote provided by Rewa Gebbie).
I understand that making this change to the current expo may not be easy. They likely already hold a relationship with many of the stallholders and there is a chance they may need to accept a few random stalls to fill the space. But I believe that creating clearer guidelines about the types of businesses encouraged to join, alongside limiting the number of stalls with sexist undertones—like those focused on cooking, cleaning, and weight loss—would make a huge difference to the overall enjoyment of the expo.
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