Sturgeon Sparks Clarks Sexist Shoes Row

Clarks shoe shop have been forced to pull a line of kids’ school shoes from their stores after a sexism row.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon criticised the ‘Dolly babe’ range, which features a love heart for the girls shoe, compared with the boy’s line, named “leader” and featuring a football insignia.

We spoke with shoppers in Newcastle who have mixed opinions on the line. One shopper said, “They’re kids you can’t stereotype them before they know what a stereotype is!” Another stated, “I don’t think they should have been recalled, I don’t agree with Nicola Sturgeon on this.”

Jenny a parent of two who has previously shopped at Clarks for shoes said, “I’ve shopped there before because they do have good quality shoe’s but there shoes do fall very much in the male and female camps and stereotypes.”

Clarks have since apologised in a statement stating,

“The Dolly Babe shoe is an old and discontinued line, with only remaining stock being sold through our stores. However, following customer feedback regarding the name, we have removed the shoe from sale online and are in the process of removing the name from the remaining stock in store, though this process will take time to complete. We are working hard to ensure our ranges reflect our gender neutral ethos and we apologise for any unintended offence caused.”