To climbers of any gender who love pink, more power to you. You rock your pink shoes.
But I do not want to wear pink shoes.
If I am going to spend $150 on a pair of shoes that lasts less than a year, I do not want to hate them.
And I do not want to feel like a Disney Princess.
I want to feel like a badass. When I lace them up, I want to feel like, “Yes I can climb up this steep wall with tiny little holds. Rawr.”
For me, this vision does not include pink shoes.
This is probably because I am a bit of a tomboy. Like Arya Stark from Game of Thrones.
Again, more power to you if pink inspires you send routes like a champ.
I just want some choices.
Take for example, my boyfriend. He loves climbing and trains hard.
Yep, that’s him.
He also happens to have a narrow heel. He wanted to try on some women’s climbing shoes, as he thought the narrower fit might work better for him.
He is also no particular fan of pink, but he wanted to try the women’s version of a popular high performance shoe.
We headed down to our neighbourhood outdoor store. I wandered around a bit before joining Bernard.
As I approached, the employee said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with this guy. He wants me to bring him women’s shoes!”
Us both being feminists, we were not amused.
People of any gender who want to wear pink, should be feel free to do so without harassment. And just because I am a women doesn’t mean I want everything I own to be pink.
Even though I DO rock this disco chalk bag…
Related post: Ten Ways We Can Make Rock Climbing More Welcoming For Women.
