Built For It

           I was checking my email the other day when this popped up on the side. At first, I thought it was just another online ad that was trying to get me to buy something. Of course, it is an ad, but it is also so much more. It took me quite some time to find this advertisement after I saw it because it was one of those ad spots that constantly changes. I have no idea how current this advertisement is, but it I have never seen it until recently.

            The first thing that comes to my mind when I see this picture is gender. We are socialized to see pink for girls and women and blue for boys and men. This picture clearly is advertising these pink shoes. What this picture also emphasizes about these shoes is that they should not “fool you” because they are pink. These shoes are meant to take a hit, so to speak. This concept that identifies pink with feminine also brings up connections with the feelings of weakness, cleanliness, and clumsiness that are normally to be associated with all things feminine in today’s society. These associations with anything considered feminine represent the socialization of gender in today’s society.

            In today’s society, we are taught from the moment our cognitive ability kicks in that blue is for boys and pink is for girls. We are also taught that women are dainty and fragile and are not built for the same jobs as men. This advertisement signifies just about everything that masculinity is not. This picture shows us that masculinity is built to take a hit, metaphorically, and that things that are feminine are not supposed to be able to withstand a hit.

            Looking at this advertisement, I think back to the class when we brought our deodorant. Our deodorants were differently designed, scented, and labeled. But why? The active ingredients in men's and women's deodorants were the exact same. I think shoes should be the same way. Shoes don't need to be gendered because they are for the same exact purpose for a male versus a female: walking, running, working, etc. Making a product like shoes gendered is just one more way of engendering our society, especially in the consumer world. 

            As is considered common sense, and because it is a gendered job, we can probably figure that there are not that many women in construction. According to the United States Department of Labor statistics, in 2010, women accounted for about 9 percent of employees in the construction sector, 13 percent in mining, 24 percent in agriculture, and 28 percent in manufacturing. These numbers are very low, which is probably because these are considered gendered careers and have been so for decades. The Feminist Revolution did not do much to change this, as proclaimed by Massey in the chapter about engendering inequality from his book, Categorically Unequal.

            Even though this advertisement clearly shows the differences in the socialization of men and women, this advertisement also is (possibly) making the statement that, even though these shoes are pink, and that she is a woman, that should not fool you. This could be an attempt to deconstruct the meanings of femininity and the color pink. 

https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/women/