Not so equal

Sneaker culture and hip hop culture are synonymously linked and have been since the conception of sneaker culture. With this link also comes the problems that hip hop culture encounters with gender equality or the lack thereof.

Hip hop music has and continues to be largely popularised by men. The majority of popular hip hop artists are men who sing about women and often in a demeaning manner. Snoop Dogg is one artist who frequently refers to women as though they are sexual objects, these referrals and the derogatory nature of a lot of hip hop music towards women means they only have a small role to play in the culture. Women dress in skimpy outfits and play into the role that the men have created for them rather than trying to break out of it.

Even in the cases where women become hip hop artists themselves they still fit into these narrow stereotypes of women in hip hop culture. Missy Elliott for instance is one of the few women in hip hop to rise to mainstream popularity, despite her strong presence in the genre she still succumbs to the rigid outlines of how a woman in hip hop should dress and behave. In many of her video clips she employs slim women to dance behind her in a seductive manner, something many of her male counterparts use in their video clips. While Missy Elliott’s music at times is in favour of empowering women her image is not. When she first started she did not fit the stereotypical body image of women in the music scene, and dressed like men however she soon conformed to the slim image of women she was surrounded by and began to dress in outfits similar to her backup dancers.



In contrast to Missy Elliott is Lady Sovereign, who rather than wearing next to nothing prefers baggy clothes, those similar to what her male counterparts often wear. She opts for sneakers over heals and jeans over miniskirts and while it may seem like this is a positive role model for women in both hip hop culture and sneaker culture it is still only a narrow scope for women to conform to within these cultures.



Within sneaker culture it is assumed by the big brands like Nike and Adidas that women want sneakers that are glittery, pastel in colour and employ some use of pattern. The women who wear these sneakers also prefer tight clothes, skirts and are there to please men. Like hip hop culture there is an opposite spectrum to this stereotypical girly girl image and that is to become one of the boys.



When I went to a sneaker swap meet held by Sneaker Freaker magazine I was hoping to meet some interesting women but instead was face by the reality of the culture. I entered the swap meet and was immediately hit by the loud bass of hip hop music and naturally the percentage of patrons attending were male, this wasn’t something I was unaware of and there were girls manning their own stalls. As I was looking around and taking pictures of some interesting sneakers I happened upon a girls stall, she had an interesting mix of kicks, both typically feminine and masculine. The girl herself who was in charge of this stall wore extremely baggy clothes, a flat lipped hat turned to the side and had some ‘bling’ on. The other stall I found that was run by women was the exact opposite, there were heels up for sale as well as a few pairs of pink pastel Nike’s, the girl in charge was a girly girl in comparison to the first girl.

There seems to be only two ways you can go in sneaker culture if you are a woman, you either become one of the boys or you adopt what can be referred to as ho chic. Baggy clothes, or ridiculously tight borderline non-existant. There is no happy medium, and if there is you end up feeling out of place. The men have it easy, the culture is far more welcoming to them as it has been since the culture started. It is culturally acceptable for men to wear sneakers outside of sports activities but for women to do the same is seen as something out of the norm.
While it may not be like the Victorian era; women in corset’s and hoop skirts, today there is still a great deal of sexism surrounding women in western society. Heads may not turn any longer when a woman chooses to play a sport such as football or don a pair of sneakers outside of the tennis court but there is still a level of uncertainty by men and women when a woman shows an enthusiasm in the world of sneakers, especially if that woman prefers the designs intended for men.

If you are a women who adores sneakers it is expected of you to go one of two ways. Ways already predetermined by hip hop culture and carried over into sneaker culture. You can either be one of the boys or opt to remain a girly girl who rocks a pair of pink air max’s. There is a sense of alienation if you don’t want to be either and even more so if you are not into hip hop music. Even with many more women in sneaker culture coming forward and creating more avenues for other like-minded women to admit their fondness of sneakers, they aren’t addressing the real problems with the culture. Women may be popping up and making stores and sneakers for women that don’t follow the stereotypes of femininity but in doing so they immediately become masculine. Men are still dictating the culture and how women are perceived within it, the mentality of pink is for girls and blue is for boys is still dominant in sneaker culture.