CH-3

Pg-59

Masculinity: On the other hand, sneakers are male footwear that is hardly ever treated as a fetish object and
seems to have only the utilitarian element, and it is assumed there is not much to discuss. However, as high
heels are the ultimate symbol of femininity, limited edition sneakers represent masculinity.

Pg-60

Most of the sneakers are made and sold for men, and there are fewer choices in design and size for women.
While the pursuit of adornment and self- display has been a female terrain, sneakers that are associated with
sports and the incessant use of technology by the enthusiasts make it a male affair.

Note: No other subculture other than the sneaker subculture is bounded by one object of dress.

Class & Masculinity: Subcultural theorists explain that youth subcultures in general are a working-class
male phenomenon, but I argue that members of the sneaker subculture today are not necessarily from the
working class as it once was during the First Wave Sneaker Phenomenon. But it is definitely a male fashion
phenomenon. One of the most important social variables that continues to be reinforced is “gender.” Sneakers as
an object are used to manifest their strong sense of masculinity

Pg-64

Patanahi kahan daloon: For sneaker enthusiasts, the sneakers are the very reason why they mobilize,
socialize, and communicate. Their values, beliefs, norms, and attitudes are centered around sneakers. During the
First Wave, sneakers were part of hip- hop culture, and the way they dressed was an expression of anti-
mainstream sentiments, frustrations, anger, or hatred. But once they went above the surface, their social message
began to transform. Sneakers became the object of desire to be on the winner’s side and not a symbol of
resistance, and they are like those who wear metal-style T-shirt because it looks “cool

Pg-66 & 67

Masculinity: Women sneakerheads are never taken seriously. Guys think our boyfriend is a sneakerhead.
They think I like sneakers just because my boyfriend likes sneakers. Or they think you just want guys’ attention
so you wear sneakers all the time. Sneakers for girls are so girly. You can’t find masculine looking sneakers in
women’s sizes. Sneaker companies just don’t make them. Female sneakerheads definitely have an inferior
status.

Gender is analogous to class in that its structure creates inequalities and hierarchy. In order to maintain their
maleness or masculinity, they need to segregate themselves from and exclude anything that has female or
feminine qualities. Sneaker subculture as a community serves that function.

Beliefs: Youth subcultures resist the mainstream hegemonic values, but as far as gender is concerned, they not
only maintain it but reinforce it. We live in a modern age where people are very much aware that any gender
inequalities and sexism must be prevented, so we at least try to make men and women socially equal, and
women are inclusive in every sphere of professional or leisure activities. But this belief does not exist among
sneaker enthusiasts.

Pg-69

Ideology and Buying Procedure: the objects, practices, and beliefs that subcultural members use to
distinguish themselves from outsiders and to prove their authentic status to insiders.
It is not simply about wearing sneakers, but the process of buying a pair is also part of their informal
membership criteria which is not found in other subcultural groups. However, for the sneaker collectors, the
actual buying process is part of the subcultural activity that they share. The strategies of finding the shoes, from
whom, or which retailer does matter.

Pg-70

When did the Sneaker collection start? Sneaker collecting started while Michael Jordan was still a
North Carolina high schooler wearing adidas. People like Bobbio Garcia, Dante Ross and Michale Berrin were
scouting whatever sneaker stores there were in the five boroughs of NYC (and beyond) for rare gems they could
show off.

Pg-71

Sneaker Selling: Sneaker enthusiasts after the Second Wave have an official space, physical and virtual, to
buy and sell their sneakers; they trade on the popular auction sites, such as ebay, or attend the sneaker
conventions taking place in the United States carrying their sneakers, and at the same time, they learn “the art of
trading up, sometimes earning a profit in the process” (Glickson 2014: A1). Many of them are technologically
savvy. The use of technology and electronics is believed to be a male practice

Note: sneaker companies actively promote and advertise their improved technology and the enhanced
production processes embedded in sneakers.

Appearance Required: But for sneakers, the outward appearance is not enough to convince male sneakers to
purchase a new pair. Sneakers are judged by the internal characteristics as well, just as men are often judged by
their intelligence, competency, and wealth.

Pg-72

Selling: Some would display their sneakers on the floor with price tags while others would walk around
holding up a pair above their head and screaming out loud how much they want to sell it for and what size they
have available.

Pg-73

In order to purchase new sneakers, the younger generation sneaker fans with limited budget and pocket money
either sell their possessions or borrow money from their family and friends.

Pg-74

Athletes are very important for promotions:

The successful athletes, such as LeBron James, Patrick Ewing, and Kobe Bryant, are the key figures in
producing “cool” and “fashionable” sneakers . athletes are very much responsible in creating exclusive sneakers
that symbolize their accomplishment and achievement. They personify success through their sneakers. A feeling
of confidence, a higher self-esteem, or a positive self-image since the sneakers personify success. They are
hunting for sneakers, but at the same time, they are chasing the ideal image of a socially successful and a
physically powerful male.

Pg-74 & 75

Sneaker Names: Sneakers have specific names or nicknames, and they give a life and a personality to the
object . Sneaker names are generally meant to connote better performance in athletes. Speed, aggressiveness,
aerodynamism, technical precision, prowess, intimidation, ruggedness, and physics-converting motions are the
desired outcomes. Thus names like “Attack” and “React,” “Carom” and “Kaboom,” “Flight” and “Lightning.”

The release of a new model is able to invoke a passion among consumers so intense that they will spend large
amounts of money and effort to acquire it.

The sneaker language consists of primarily action-oriented words which motivate the wearer to initiate action
and be proactive.

Pg-77

Today, sneakers are as much a fashion item for minority youths as they are for mainstream white teenagers.

CH-4

Pg-81

Consumer Group: The sneaker subculture is a community of boys and young men that is bounded by one
item of dress which could potentially become a fashion item. They adorn and embellish their feet with the latest
sneakers and are constantly chasing the more fashionable ones to compete with other fellow sneaker enthusiasts
who are also male.

Pg-82

Sneakers as Status Symbol: the sneaker subculture shows that sneakers are indeed a fashion item, and the
novelty and the scarcity of the products determine the status of a sneaker and the wearer.

When a pair of sneakers goes beyond its practical functions, it becomes fashion.

Sneakers are no longer “lowly.” Sneakers play a major part of fashion consumption influencing not only the
footwear industry but also high fashion brands that are now producing high-priced sneakers, such as Comme des
Garçons, Louis Vuitton, and Rick Owens, among many others.

“Sneakers really boost your male ego. I feel cool. I feel confident. ”

Pg-85

Sneaker enthusiasts are one of the most fashionable groups of people as they always decide what to wear on
their feet everyday before they decide which clothes to wear. Their fashion literally starts from bottom-up which
is symbolical of their fashion diffusion process, the bubble-up or trickle-up theory of fashion

Pg-93

The sneaker community calls them the “hypebeasts,” which comes from one of the most popular websites for
young men’s contemporary fashion and streetwear, including sneakers, called Hypebeast ([Link])

Pg-94
Behaviour: During my research, I was not able to find out each sneaker fan’s social or family background,
which would require an enormous amount of time and trusting relationship and friendship with each one of
them, but as Kan suggests, it could possibly explain the current youth behavior, including obsessive sneaker
hunting, to a certain extent.

Sharing of info. With other enthusiasts: And this competition factor through activities is a way to
construct the unity and the bond among men. Men rarely sit down and share their feelings and emotions with
their peers.

Although the sneaker enthusiasts compete in the sneaker hunting process, they have high regards for one
another. They exchange and share information about sneakers, show off new sneakers that they bought, post
them online, and nonverbally acknowledge those who are part of the same subculture.

Many of them also frequent fashion forums, such as NikeTalk, Hypebeast, StyleForum, and Superfuture, where
they discuss different styles, looks, and designer labels over various threads.

Pg-97

Sneakers are consumed as a material and an immaterial cultural object by the members. Consumption is an
important part of subcultural experience in creating a subcultural identity.

CH-5

Pg-111

Being a “true sneakerhead” requires them to follow the latest trends and get hold of limited editions sneakers,
make sure their sneakers are always clean and almost brand new, find out what the latest shoelaces look like,
where the next sneaker convention will take place, which pairs to buy or sell at what price, and so on.

Pg-112

While sneakers are not a sacred object (although they may be from the collectors’ perspective), it is a symbolic
object that brings the subcultural members together emotionally and physically. Sneaker enthusiasts treat
sneakers as something similar to a totemic symbol that binds them with fellow sneaker fans which in turn brings
about “collective conscience”

The members of the sneaker subculture construct certain degrees of subcultural solidarity which is more
mechanical than organic. Their emotional involvement in and attachment to the group gets deeper and deeper as
their passion for sneakers gets more intense.

Pg-113

Sneaker enthusiasts move back and forth between personal and impersonal space. Their love for sneakers unites
them on a personal and emotional level, but at the same time, they guard their private, physical space.

Pg-116
Demographics: Sneakers enthusiasts in Japan still form a small community, although they are very much
updated with the latest sneakers in the United States and Europe. There are no conventions or events that are
similar to the ones found overseas.