The chapter "Daughters and Generals in the Politics of the Globalized Sneaker." Was very informative. I have previously read about child labor and sweat shops in foreign countries, but never about working women in poor conditions. It seems these women got guilted into working in poor conditions through the globalization of sneakers and through this conceptualized their own idea of femininity. It is fascinating to me how these women were basically tricked into working for low wages and being content with that. I love shoes while writing this I briefly stopped to count how many shoes I have in my closet I counted 26 and that doesn’t count the shoes I get given to me and the shoes I have at home. Not once have I ever thought about the process that goes into creating the shoes or the labor behind it. It is ridiculous how much money we spend on these shoes that cost a fraction of what we pay. While Nike and Reebok and other shoe companies may have terrible working standards for its factory workers it is hard for me to be sympathetic because it does not directly affect me or anyone I know. Unfortunately I believe that is how most people feel even though they may say that they care what are they really doing about it?
I completely agree, Sterling. I similarly, after reading this article, thought about how many pairs of sneakers I have. While I won't share the number, it really made me think about how much these women are suffering and being manipulated just so we can wear trendy/stylish/most technologically advanced shoes possible. We get rewarded- with being noticed or perhaps by playing better than before, but what do these women get? Barely $1 a day. In the end, while I do love shoes and of course we need to wear them in our daily lives, I imagine that in the future I will think about these women when considering what pairs to buy.
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