I first want to preface this post by stating that I am indeed, obsessed with shoes. My son (at the age of 6) has more than 100 pairs, three fourths of which are Nike/Jordan brand. I own several pair of Nike's myself, although I ultimately prefer 5 inch+ heels. The point is, although Nike apparently hates women, I still love Nike. I couldn't boycott them even if I should totally start doing just that. It just isn't in my nature, I cant throw away my Dunks or custom "Princess" Forces, and my son will be wearing LA Gear over my dead body.
Seriously though Nike, this recent ad campaign you all have conjured up is just blatantly sexist. More so than Dove Brand 's attempt to appeal to "normal" women, because although Dove's advertisements are ultimately sexist and depict harmful images of women, at least Dove pretends to care about the way women in the media are portrayed. No such luck for consumers of Nike, for it is now really clear Nike is capitalizing on the current pop culture trend of big booty-ness.
Because right now, more than ever before, everyone wants a nice, fat ass. In my generation Jennifer Lopez; AKA Jenny from the Block; AKA Jlo, started the big booty-ness trend. She still has one of the most recognizable and fantastically large asses in all of Hollywood. So I don't think I am going out on a limb by stating she is, at least in part, responsible for the current trend that idolizes fat ass-ness. For most people, men especially, are voicing their attraction to a fat ass, rather than the flat asses seen skidding down high-fashion run ways, with far more regularity now than ever before.
Further proof of the trend are the women that our culture now idolizes. Hollywood and the sports world contain some of the most famous women in Western culture, who are in part famous because of their fat asses. The ass is big and looks good in a tight dress, no acting skills required and many people, mostly men, say they like it. Thinking of Kim Kardashian? Scarlett Johanssen? Serena Williams? Any rapper's road chick? Yeah, these are the women I am talking about.
And Nike isn't dumb, they know the trend, they know women are now trying to become these famous women with fat asses. So instead of going blatantly sexist and creating ugly shoes like Reebok and Sketchers did, they just hired a model with a big ass and set her next to text that says, "My Butt is Big". On the surface, Nike is speaking on behalf of the non-skinny women of Western culture (a lot of us) in attempting to portray confident, sexy, women with fat asses who proudly show off their most prized ASSett. With these ads Nike is saying, "Damn, but she should be proud!" Nike says women should flaunt that ass, and even better, they should be wearing AirMax while doing so.
The reality is much more sinister. Society likes big butts on women right now, the rates of butt injections and implants for the ass-less women among us have sky rocketed, and famous women don't look like Calista Flockhart anymore. So Nike quickly connects the dots and creates an ad campaign meant to lure in women looking for less dramatic and less expensive ass-plumping products. That is why Nike says next to that juicy bubble butt- having model, "10 thousand lunges have made it rounder, not smaller". Because they want women to believe getting a big ass is not something only rich, sex-tape making socialites can pay for or something most of us are born with.
Nike wants women to buy their product to have a fat ass, to be more close to the current beauty norm, to be more beautiful.
If that isn't sexist, I don't know what is. But we already know Nike is sexist in their steadfast support of pig Ben Roethlisberger and the jump off king, Tiger Woods. Nike endorses more male athletes than female athletes, Nike employs more men than women, Nike unabashedly supported factories whose conditions and pay adversely effect women in developing countries far more than men. Truly, the list goes on and on.
This new ad campaign really illustrates exactly how sexist Nike is. Think less of female athletes breaking down barriers, and more of Mad Men's Don Draper. Yes, Nike is that sexist. The shameless ads featuring naked women in Nike gear, the obvious nod to women-oppressive norms of pop-culture, and reification of beauty norms for women reveals a company ( which on the outside tries to advertise as the "just do it", groundbreaking, all-gender inclusive brand) that really is no different and just as sexist as the rest of the advertising world.
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