last year the footwear giant Clarks came out with a new lines of footwear for children, the boys named “the leader” and the girls “dolly babe”. This sexism used within marketing has been going on for years.

The word leader has connotations of superiority and control. Designing and developing this idea for a target market such as children is teaching them to believe in these values.

As for the design of the shoes the girls insoles have a heart shaped pattern and the boys have footballs. (C. Johnstone,2017) This gender stereotyping with categorizing young women with romance and suggesting only boys can play football isn’t a new concept.

The word ‘babe’ is an affectionate form of address, typically for someone with whom one has a sexual or romantic relationship. (Urban Dictionary, 2017) using this term for a child could potentially be seen as inappropriate as it could be seen to sexualize young girls.

Clarks have a different design of shoe in their range for girls which includes a little doll in the sole of the shoe. (Clarks, 2017) However popular this shoe was, the idea that little girls like to play with dolls is a sweeping generalization. Although, Clarks have recently stated that they no longer carry the ‘dolly babe’ range in any of their stores or online. (B.Chapman,2017) Children’s footwear doesn’t need to be gendered as all shoes have the same purpose. No matter the gender of the wearer.

Clarks (2018) Available at: https://www.clarks.co.uk/ (Acessed:02/10/2018)

B. Chapman (2017)Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/clarks-shoes-sexism-dolly-babe-girls-leader-boys-gender-identity-a7892441.html (Accessed: 02/10/2018)

Urban Dictionary (2017) babe Available at: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=babe (Accessed:01/10/2018)

C. Johnston (2017) Clarks in sexism row, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40916607 (Accessed:01/10/2018)