Just Shoe It

Posted by Cynical Sarah on October 12, 2007

Occasionally a news story comes up that I could easily throw on this site as satire and nobody would know the difference. There’s so much ridiculous news out there it can be hard to come up with a good idea each week.

The story that took the cake this week was Nike’s latest shoe, the Air Native N7. I’m not sure I would even dare to make up a story like that just because of the racist implications.

Yes, Native Americans have issues with obesity and diabetes related to being overweight. They’re not the only ethnic group with weight issues though. Will there soon be a special shoe for the large urban black women. Or how about us short, big-boned women of German decent. I don’t see anyone analyzing my wide feet to make me a special shoe.

Not that I’m begrudging the Native Americans their special shoe, but what does it take to be singled out as a good market for something like this?

I’m pretty sure the overweight female market of any race or ethnicity is going to be a much more profitable market for Nike. We women will buy anything that could potentially make them more physically fit and healthy. Nike probably would have saved money on research as well with that, since it would only have to make a claim that a shoe is specifically designed for the woman’s foot and we’d go for it.

However, knowing myself and a few other women, it’s possible we’d be more than a little offended if a shoe company specifically targeted us as needing a little extra encouragement to help fight obesity.

Imagine someone saying to you, “Your ethnic group/race/gender seems to lack in motivation or energy to keep yourselves from become obese and unhealthy.”

That’s really my first impression I get from the Air Native news. Coming from South Dakota, there’s already a negative stereotype of the lazy Native Americans. Now Nike seems to be contributing to that with their special shoes designed to help Native Americans be more active.

I’m sure someone in Nike’s marketing and design departments really sold this idea as being a way for the company to give back to society. They’re selling the shoes only directly to reservations and a marked down price so they can reach as many Native Americans as possible. Plus the proceeds from the shoes will go directly to Native American groups as well.

I wonder what happened to the voice of reason, though, that would have normally spoken up and said it may not be the best idea to inadvertently contribute to the laziness stereotype. Perhaps because they deal in shoes they don’t think about the many other factors that would contribute to the weight problems, not just ill-fitting shoes.

I have feet that are hard to fit as well. They’re the typical Size 8ish range that most women are, but I’ve got wide feed with little stubby toes and little-to-no arches.

It can be very difficult to find shoes that aren’t too tight or that don’t try to give me higher arches or, in the case of sandals, where my toes actually come out where they’re supposed to.

It takes a little more searching and shopping, but I do eventually find a shoe that will work for me for whatever purpose. Gym shoes happen to the be the easiest to find, so I don’t really think having a custom-made Nike is going to be the big motivator for Native Americans to get more fit and healthy.

I have a great pair of gym shoes, and I still don’t work out as much as I should. Not to mention a good pair of shoes doesn’t help me eat healthier either. I’d be more impressed if Nike also started a nutrition program on the reservations and built them some good fitness centers. As it stands now, they look a little racist and perhaps like they’re just testing out a new product market in a way that has the outward appearance of a charitable project.

- Sarah L. Polson

Filed Under: Blog - Comments: Be the First to Comment



top