I have a few books too. I am not talking about books though - women seem to have many many things, and they also have many units of the same thing. For example, why does anyone need 10 or 20 pairs of shoes? A female friend of mine has 40 (yes, forty) different bags, and she still keeps buying bags. And no, she is not wealthy, and doesn't live in a mansion.

Edit: not complaining or anything. Just genuinely curious :)

Honestly, as a reformed female clothing junkie, I think it grows in part out of being intelligent -- thus easily bored -- and visually inclined. Getting a certificate in GIS and running my own websites helped cure me of interest in both fashion and decor. I can search for new skins for my blogs or twiddle with the font size or whatever instead of rearranging furniture and trying on the same pants with 27 different tops. It is just as mentally satisfying to that part of my brain. But clothes and decor were the only "appropriate" outlets for it when I was a homemaker/living like I was "supposed to" as a woman.