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Original poster

Clarkes "don't do walking shoes for girls"

85 replies

PuffingPanda · 26/09/2011 15:33

Yesterday I went into Clarkes shoes in Broughton, near Chester, to get my 5 year old daughter some walking shoes. On the demarcated ?boys side? (all blue and black, of course) I counted over 5 different styles of hiking/walking shoes.

On the girls side (all pink of course) ....nothing! Not a single walking shoe.

I asked the shop attendant to please show me walking shoes for girls. She said that they don?t seem to make any!

I asked if she felt girls don?t go walking. She giggled nervously and shrugged her shoulders.

Eventually they found a single pair in a catalogue, which would take a week to order.

I left with some perfect blue ?boys? shoes for my 5 year old.

I was flabbergasted.... already so many limits being placed on my daughter.

PS: My daughter loves dinosaurs. Al the dinosaur shoes were on the ?boys? side, so she felt she couldn?t take them. It really makes me sad.

OP posts:
Malificence · 26/09/2011 15:59

I don't remember any of this gender divided kids stuff when DD was growing up, tis very , very odd from a parental view but from a marketing and sales point it I imagine makes perfect economic sense - unisex clothes can be handed down whatever flavour of children you have, whereas if it's all boys stuff /girls stuff and your second child is not the same gender as your first, you're stuffed and have to buy the whole lot again, unless you've been savvy enough to buy everything gender neutral, which sadly doesn't seem possible these days beyond newborn.
Everything seems to be princess/fairies for girls and robots/dinosaurs etc. for boys, it's quite bizarre but people must have fallen for it or it wouldn't sell.

Not having walking shoes/boots for girls seems a very poor marketing strategy if nothing else, what about all the girls who need them for brownies/scouts etc.?

worraliberty · 26/09/2011 16:00

what about all the girls who need them for brownies/scouts etc.?

They'll buy the black or blue ones?

CalatalieSisters · 26/09/2011 16:00

It isn't a problem with the range of "girls walking shoes" that Clarks sells. The problem is that unisex walking shoes were placed on "the boys side" of the shop. The subsequent interpretaion of them as "boys walking shoes" is either Clark's fault -- if it really is true that their positioning in the shop made them seem like they must be "boys shoes", or perhaps the OPs fault too, for taking signals from the shoes' colour etc and reading that as "boy".

ThePosieParker · 26/09/2011 16:01

Mali. They do have them. They are dark grey with a bit of purple, exactly the same style as the grey and blue for boys.

ThePosieParker · 26/09/2011 16:02

It's all of our faults isn't it?

Buying into this crap. Just like we believe 'superfoods' and other marketing tools.

CalatalieSisters · 26/09/2011 16:02

And actually, I've never come across any implication in the marketing of children's walking shoes that they are a "boy" thing.

CalatalieSisters · 26/09/2011 16:04

yy Posie. Even as "aware" consumers it is sometimes possible to slip into making gender assumptions about products based on the codes that retailers so often apply -- even in those cases when they haven't (for a change) placed any gender presuppositions on a product.

ThePosieParker · 26/09/2011 16:09

My son wishes to wear Red Uggs, he is nine, I know that he will be told they are girl's boots. I know he won't care. He is neither effeminate nor alpha male, he just happens to want to look cool....and unique.

I love him to bits!!

Malificence · 26/09/2011 16:09

Having worked in Millets - boys shoes are differently sized to girls, they are wider for a start, but in Clarks, that shouldn't be an issue as they are width fitted?

Sadly, little girls are probably uber aware that they would be seen as wearing "boys" shoes though and do kids really need another reason to be bullied?

snailoon · 26/09/2011 16:10

It might be your fault that your daughter is so aware of "girls'" and "boys'" items. At 5 my kids, both boys and girl would have been completely indifferent to this, but I think you have to make a decision never to talk about gender specific shoes, toys, things in general.

But then, I wear loads of boys clothes myself, and you probably don't.

Petisa · 26/09/2011 16:11

Yanbu op the girls shoes in Clarkes are ridiculous. I always buy dd1 a pair of the boys' shoes, the dark blue ones with red lights on the back, which are great for slim feet. And so much more practical than the girls' shoes, which would be useless in a muddy park or in the rain. It really annoys me, I mean are girls supposed to just sit in the living room all day and not get muddy and wet and keep their pink shoes like new? Of course I get away with this because my dd1 is only 3. Dread future shoe-buying expeditions Sad

TeamDamon · 26/09/2011 16:12

I am not sure what, actually, you are complaining about.

First, never go to Clarks for walking shoes. I can't even find a decent pair of school shoes in there for my DC, never mind walking shoes - go to a decent outdoors/camping shop instead.

Secondly, you seem to be the one placing the limits on your daughter by wanting to follow the boy/girl demarcations in Clarks in such a sheep-like fashion. Yes, in the end you bought some shoes but why did you feel that you had to choose walking shoes from the girls' side anyway? Why not just look at the walking shoes available and choose from those straight away?

KRITIQ · 26/09/2011 16:14

It seems to be something of a chicken and egg issue. Companies will of course say they sell things in response to customer demand. But, marketing is all about creating a demand for products or services - often things that folks don't yet know they need or want, whether for themselves or their children.

Mali touched what might be partly behind it. If you sell clothes that can be worn by either boys or girls, a family may only buy one set and pass them onto a younger sibling when the older child outgrows them. If you market them as being only for boys or for girls, they won't be handed down if the next child isn't the same gender. So, the parents will go out and buy a second set of products - double the sales!

The problem is that even very tiny children absorb the messages of marketing and also pick these up from their peers. They start to learn which types of clothes, which toys, etc. are "supposed" to be for them and which aren't. The OP's daughter didn't want the shoes that were displayed with other products for boys, which is understandable. Even when I was a kid back in the stone age, I remember one boy getting the piss ripped out of him for wearing a type of shoe that at the time was more often worn by girls. I got the same for wearing my brother's second hand high tops. When you're little, this stuff hurts.

Maybe Clarks sells other walking shoes that weren't on display and maybe those it did have weren't meant to be placed in the "boys section," but they were. Some parents will have the time, money and energy to find alternative products that aren't gender-segregated. But others will maybe walk in, take a cursory glance at what's on offer and buy pink, sparkly, not really appropriate for walking or hard wear shoes. The message that walking and active stuff is for boys, being pretty and decorative is for girls gets indirectly reinforced again.

Pendeen · 26/09/2011 16:14

YABU to be "flabbergasted"

Clarkes are a commercial firm and have been around for a long time.

If they restrict the stock in their high street shops to items which sell easily then that's not unreasonable at all.

Meteorite · 26/09/2011 16:16

It's not made clear to the customer whether boys/girls shoes in the same size are exactly the same fitting or if there is some difference.

"why did you feel that you had to choose walking shoes from the girls' side anyway"

Lizcat · 26/09/2011 16:24

There are lovely pink ones in Millets. DD is on her second pair.
YABU to expect clarks to have them do you buy your own walking shoes there?

Malificence · 26/09/2011 16:24

Come on snailoon, as soon as they mix with other kids / go to school, they will be aware of the differences , years ago it wasn't such an issue because it wasn't so all pervasive, we didn't have 24 hour media or internet telling us what we need to be that go-getting man or have-it-all woman.
Looking back, my DD was dressed in gender neutral stuff up until about 14, unintentionally because I've never really dressed in a feminine way and she was quite "tomboyish" (I hate that expression) but now shes 21 and fond of bodycon dresses and stripper heels, along with hoodies and uggs, she's been seduced by advertising/TV along with the rest of them - she had nothing pink or girly growing up, it was all primary colours etc. I'm not even sure when all the pink and glittery shit came into fashion.

Giddly · 26/09/2011 16:30

Am probably missing the point, but why would a 5 year old need proper hiking boots? I completely agree that most clarks girls shoes are not sturdy enough and are far too open for the winter, but they do a few types of more substantial shoe / ankle boot with a strong sole (I'bve just bought a pair for DD2 - £31). Wouldn't proper walking boots be far too heavy / inflexible for a 5 year old? I would have thought they were fine for anything a fit and healthy 5 year old would be getting up to.

Malificence · 26/09/2011 16:33

DD had walking boots from the age of 3 or so, they need proper ankle support for rough terrain. Childrens boots aren't heavy/inflexible.

ThePosieParker · 26/09/2011 16:37

Just to say again, Clarks (without the 'e') do sell a girl's walking shoe/boot. They are exactly the same.

As a practical member of the Clark family (ahem, not really but all my family have been employed by them at one time or another) I can say with certainty that boys and girls feet are measured the same, on the same gauge and so the fitting is the same, f is f, g is g./

Lizcat · 26/09/2011 16:39

As Malificence says when you walk on rough terrain the walking boots support the ankles. We have also found that with walking boots they are quickly able to walk further. If you are walking 5 miles on rocky terrain in winter you are much less likely to slip etc if you have the correct footwear. Plus regular shoes are not waterproof the vast majority of walking shoes/boots are.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 26/09/2011 16:42

I remember very well a girl in my class who was slated because she was made to wear boys' shoes. This was the early 80's, this magical time when these things apparently didn't matter. But they did to her. Even my brother, who wasn't in her class, remembers her being teased about it.

inchoccyheaven · 26/09/2011 16:42

Elastamum my son has size 51/2 feet and I always get his shoes from clarks Confused

SardineQueen · 26/09/2011 16:43

My DD was "taught" what things are "for girls" and what things are "for boys" when she started preschool at a bit over 2. The other children enforce the gender "rules" fiercely IME.

Which is why it is no good saying "why didn't you buy the boys ones". If they are on the boys side, then many girls won't consider it. And if they are on the girls side, then many boys won't consider it.

I suspect that this calms down when they get a bit older again but when they are pretty small being part of the crowd seems to be very important. The joys of individuality are somewhat lost on most 4yo.

minipie · 26/09/2011 16:53

YANBU OP.

As Sardine says, it's all very well for people to say "why didn't you just get the boys' ones" but if your 5 year old has been taught by advertising, school, other children (and indeed shops like Clarks) that Blue is for Boys and Girls Can't Wear Boys' Stuff then she is not going to accept the shoes which have been labelled as Boys' Shoes. Even if they fit perfectly.

Please please please can ALL shops stop segregation of childrens' products until puberty.