Women and shoes (a new twist!)?

Question

I have 2 daughters, and they enjoy the trappings of girlyness (scented lotions, nail polish, etc. ) much more than I do.
But the shoe thing baffles me. I have large, wide feet that are difficult to fit. Consequently, I have only a few pairs of shoes (maybe a dozen, all told). One of my daughters has feet like mine and also has just a few pairs of shoes. The other daughter has average feet, can wear anything off the rack and she is a shoe fanatic! Earlier today she was playing on the computer and I heard her squeal quite intensely. I went to her and asked what caused her to make that noise and she pointed to a pair of shoes on the monitor. "Can I buy these...look, they are on sale!"
So, my question is...how did my daughter develop a shoe craze when her sister and I are not what you would call "shoe people." Are there subliminal messages in our society to encourage girls to buy shoes?

Could extended family have significant influence, even though we have limited contact because they live 5 hours away?

My point is to address the gender construct "women love shoes" and what societal influences created and perpetuate that construct.

Answer 1

I think I'd be glad she likes shoes and not drugs.

Answer 2

I have no idea where that construct is from, but it's a pretty well-established stereotype. She might have picked it up from her friends or just from tv. Look at Carrie on _Sex and the City_ for instance. Or that weird tv commercial that I keep seeing for text message trivia games. The woman in the commercial imagines buying lots and lots of shoes with her winnings. The guy wants some sort of stereotypical man toy, I forget what. This sort of thing gets picked up without people ever really realizing it. It's why women are often more into glitter and romances while men are more likely to enjoy cars and sports.

Answer 3

I hope you don't hate me for posting this - I only recently became aware of it myself, and find the subject fascinating. All that 'subliminal seduction' stuff we've been told is molding and twisting our minds "buySHOESbuySHOESbuySHOES"

Well...it's all MALARKY. Echoes of the the McCarthy Era, the Cold War and breathtakingly neurotic film noir (like the 'Manchurian Candidate'):

"How did the uproar over subliminal advertising affect the ad industry? (Hint: it's not what you think.) Carrie McLaren studies the paradox of ad criticism.

In the annals of advertising few strategies are more notorious than subliminal persuasion. If you asked your average Joe to name the advertising practices he objected to, somewhere after spam and before tampon commercials he'd probably mention subliminals.

The public uproar over subliminals took place over two key periods. The first, in the late 1950s, focused on James Vicary's claims that he had inserted split-second, invisible ad messages into movies. In the 1970s, Wilson Bryan Key rekindled the frenzy with his book Subliminal Seduction, which purported to reveal that ads for liquor and other everyday products were riddled with hidden skulls and humping donkeys.

Experts have long since debunked the subliminal hoaxes, and many people with more than a passing knowledge of advertising know not to take this nonsense seriously, but I can't help but be fascinated with the subliminal myth, particularly as a critique of advertising. Of all the people who have criticized advertising over the years, the men who popularized subliminal advertising seem to have gotten the most mileage. Books on the topic (Key's as well as Vance Packard's Hidden Persuaders) were best-sellers, and their ideas circulated far more widely than other social critiques. In the late 1950s and again in the 1970s, the outcry over subliminals even inspired legislators to draft laws banning the practice.

For Vance Packard, the critique of subliminals was a minor part of his larger concern that industrial psychology was manipulating the public. Key, on the other hand, focused almost entirely on subliminal manipulation. Though Packard and Key had very different approaches--Packard backed his claims with industry sources, while Key ignored whatever the industry said and essentially made things up--both authors tapped into deeply entrenched Cold War--era fears of brainwashing and mind control. Two decades may have separated the subliminal scares, but the popular critique was essentially the same: secret, hidden messages in advertising manipulate an unwitting public into buying things they don't need."

Answer 4

I have big wide size 9 feet and I love shoes love shoes love shoes. I don't know about the construct thing, but I do like cute comfy shoes.

Answer 5

Well if she watches TV, goes to mainstream movies, and reads magazines and pulp fiction, you've got your answer. A love for shoes may end up being lifelong but undoubtedly she'll also be into makeup, fashion, hairstyles and all the other trappings of so-called "feminity."

Answer 6

She's probably getting most of her messages from her classmates - if they squeal, she'll squeal; if they luv shoes - she'll luv shoes. It's a reflection of her current values otherwise, she'd be hanging with a whole different group. Other messages she may be getting is that it's better to be popular than think for yourself or kids who don't squeal over a pair of shoes are nerds - and she'd rather be part of the in-crowd. I think maybe you need to start sending off more messages of your own - subliminal AND direct.

Answer 7

Maybe you and your other daughter don't like them because you have those wide, unwieldy feet that no shoes will fit like you just said. Ever consider that?

There's no social construct that's present in her life more than it is you and your other daughter KA, even if there is an imaginary social construct at work you would be less affected by it because of your wide and unwieldy feet.

Even feminists admit that the women who buy into social constructs are the ones who are rewarded by them the most, ie. women who are attractive, meaning the uglier women buy into the social constructs less. In your case, your feet are wide and unwieldy so you can't benefit from any shoe loving social construct as much as a regular person can you? That's my point and it answers your question.

Answer 8

Watch her!
I'm just sayin'.....