i just wrote a very angry letter to skechers.
This is pretty unbelievable. I’m really glad you wrote this, Michelle! Those women’s studies minors of ours are incredibly useful, aren’t they? <3
while watching nickelodeon this afternoon (shh) I saw a commercial for Skechers Shape-Ups….For Girls. For. Girls. I went to their web site, and they don’t make these shoes for boys. Just girls. I became enraged and wrote them a letter. here it is.
To whomever it may concern (which is hopefully everyone),
While watching television this morning, I saw a commercial for Skechers shoes. Thinking it was a standard children’s shoe commercial, I almost didn’t pay any mind to it—until I realized what product was being endorsed. Your product, Shape-Up Sneakers for Girls, is entirely too troubling for me to remain silent about it. Targeting these shoes specifically to young girls is not only sexist, but extremely detrimental. Young girls are faced with stereotypes in the media everyday regarding their body and shape—these images of perfection are drilled into their psyche, while most are still developing and have not even reached puberty yet. By only targeting these shoes to just girls (I checked your website and found no Shape-Up sneakers for boys), Skechers is promoting the beauty standard to girls at very young ages. This commercial wasn’t being shown at a time when it’s mostly teenagers viewing—it was a Saturday morning, a prime time for children to watch programming. This commercial was also shown on a children’s network.
I understand that child obesity is a national concern. I agree that kids aren’t exercising as much or eating as healthy as they should. Notice, however, that this is CHILD obesity—not just “girl obesity”. If Skechers is going to launch a product to promote healthy lifestyles, why would it just be targeted to young girls? Not just girls, or parents of girls, are concerned about weight gain or child obesity. By just launching these shoes for girls, Skechers is sending out a message that only females should be concerned about their weight, and should start working on this issue at a very young age. I also noticed that these shoes start at sizes for pre-schoolers…how many pre-schoolers need to be worrying about shaping up their legs and butts? Furthermore, by just selling this product to girls, it is sending a message to young boys that judging girls because of their body is acceptable. The standards of beauty are implemented at a young age.
This product is sending a negative message to young girls while they are still developing. Bodies change with age and time, and there is no need for girls to wear shoes to help tone their physique, when most of them don’t even have one yet. Eating disorders are beginning to develop within children at younger ages than it has ever been seen before. Skechers is an influential brand and very popular with school age children—shouldn’t they be apart of the solution, not contributing to the problem of negative body image? Young girls should be taught that they are important because of their intelligence and talents, not because they have great calves at the age of 7. I urge you to greatly reconsider this product and the message it is sending out to young girls. Thank you for your time.Big ups to the woman who caught this and pointed it out. It is rare that I write a letter to the editor/manufacturer but I co-sign this ALL. THE. WAY. and I will be letting them know.
Here is their contact info if you want to as well:
Mail: Skechers.com
Customer Service
228 Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(800) 746-3111 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (800) 746-3111 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E-mail: info@skechers.com
Fax: (888) 566-5746That is some utter bullshit.
Unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. Are we honestly telling girls from the moment they’re walking that they need to be modifying their bodies to be thinner? Really? Skechers should be ashamed of themselves.
I’ve started a petition to get Skechers to discontinue this bullshit. Please sign and pass it on!
