The other day I went into champs and looked at the shoes because I was debating if it was time for me to buy a new pair of shoes. I came to this question because I noticed that my white Air Forces have become dirty and they have lost their “crispness”. They are not too small, or too worn down, rather they are just not as clean as they once were. This got me to thinking about how shoes are truly media and every industry; from professional sports to music to TV commercials are aware of this. Nike earned millions of dollars by creating Air Jordans, Michael Jordan’s own shoe line, they created commercials that suggested that his success was based on his shoes. Rappers have created countless rhymes suggesting how important their shoes are to them and how shoes are truly an expression of themselves. People have very different clothing styles but shoes are something that everybody cares about.
I think that this relates to the reading in chapter 4 in that certain norms and conventions about shoes have developed overtime and they have been influenced by many different factors of different media industries. These norms have influenced our decision making and now when we purchase shoes we are not just considering what style fits our foot and what is comfortable, rather we think about all of the different media influences and think about how they have influenced our opinions. As I began this blog with a simple story of debating whether or not to buy a new pair of shoes I couldn’t help but think about how I used to buy shoes. I would go into the store, try several different styles on and see what I thought was the most comfortable. Now though, I am influenced by Air Jordan TV commercials or different hip hop and rap songs and my decision making process has become much more complicated. Ultimately I decided not to buy a new pair of shoes. While there is no question that my white Air Forces are very dirty, I like to think that media has not completely influenced me and I was able to decide that my shoes are still very usable and I can buy some shoe cleaner if I really want to make my shoes more clean.
Air Jordan Commercial:
(How could you not want these shoes now?)
Lose twenty pounds and gain four inches!!!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that the shoe you decide to wear says a lot about your personality and the influence media has had on you. However, I do not believe media has as much to do with the expectation that one wear only clean sneakers. With the exponential advances in healthcare there has now become a societal expectation that one maintain a certain level of cleanliness. Wearing dirty sneakers reflect poorly on the persons appearance and level of cleanliness. Therefore, I think you should have purchased the new sneakers because it does not make you seem any less influenced by media. After all, you are still wearing one of the most popular shoes in the world, Air Forces.
ReplyDeleteAs the great Nelly once proclaimed "I like the all white high top strap with the gum bottom/ theres something bout em, they're dirty thats why i got em". Its amazing, as you said, the true power that media have over our everyday decisions, such as what shoes to wear. The effective nike advertisements as well as numerous rappers co-signing them makes us believe that to get on the level of MJ or Nelly we truly need a certain type of sneaker. Whether or not we actually need the sneaker is often up for debate, but the media can play a significant factor in affecting our decisions.
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