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political implications as well.
    We’re actually getting to a point where gender understanding might be legislated. In 2008, members of theEuropean Parliament voted overwhelmingly in support of a report on the negative effects of marketing on gender equality and stereotyping. Though not legally binding, the report will be used to draft new European Union legislation that calls for businesses to stop using unrealistic and sexist images of both genders in their advertising. 8 Could a lack of gender understanding eventually go from being unwise to illegal? Probably not, but this new development from Europe is certainly enough to give one pause.
    As I write this, people in every conceivable industry are being challenged to create products and programs with female appeal, particularly in gender-neutral or traditionally “male” categories such as consumer electronics, insurance, finance, and, yes, automobiles. This is because women have never been more powerful in terms of their buying power. Historically, they’ve always had informal purchasing authority for their households (meaning they were in charge of shopping for it, though they often were spending their husbands’ income), and they still do, but they now have the added weight of formal shopping authority—they’re earning money themselves, and enriching their households while they’re doing it.
    Goodbye Bunk Beds, Hello iPods
    T HE entire economy has benefited from women’s labor. Almost all the income growth in the United States since 1970 has come from women working outside the home. 9 Before women starting working in large numbers, America lived in a world where families had one car, one television, and one stereo, and the kids shared bedrooms as depicted so cheerfully in the popular 1970s television show The Brady Bunch .Then millions of women went off into the workforce and their incomes slowly created a new norm—households with multiple cars; kids with their own rooms, television sets, and computers; each member of the household with his or her own cell phone and iPod. The mass affluence we’ve grown accustomed to in industrialized countries has been driven in large part by women’s incomes.
    In addition to increasing their households’ purchasing power, women are driving consumer trends, from the mass luxury movement to the design movement to the do-it-yourself industry. And because more women than ever are running their own households (27 percent of all U.S. households are headed by a woman, according to the U.S. Census), they’re often the only one in their homes making the purchasing decisions, large and small. Women are also the dominant sex earning bachelor’s degrees in most of the world’s industrialized countries, which means that the trajectory for their earning power will be even higher in the years to come.
    The social and demographic trends impacting women around the world, which are outlined in the next chapter, are valuable insights that set the stage for what women will want and need from business over the next twenty-five years. The pages ahead are designed to do four things: first, arm you with the most current data about female buying power; second, provide you with insights into how women view the world and everything in it, including whatever it is you’re selling; third, give you an overview of the most important demographic trends that will help you with long-range planning; and finally, bring the concepts of this book to life by sharing real-world case studies, with practical tips and strategies that you can apply to your own business.
    Assume Nothing: No Matter Where You Live, Women Are a Foreign Country
    T HE easiest way to grasp female culture and use the insights to your advantage is to view it as a foreign market. Every country in the world has its own official language(s), cultural norms, and rituals. This is generally true for men and women as well. Each of us is born into an unseen and imperceptible culture built