We are back here at the Field Museum with Alaka Wali,
who is the curator of North American anthropology here,
and today we're talking about shoes!
A: Shoes. E: Why are we talking about shoes?
We thought that shoes would be a good way to talk
about cultural similarities and cultural differences.
For the first pair that we're talking about today,
we have a pair of reef shoes, which would've --
what would these have been used for?
These were invented by people in the Pacific islands
as a way of walking on reefs.
E: Why would somebody be walking on coral reefs? A: Well, they're looking for fish that they're
going to spear, or they're looking for marine life,
you know, they're fishermen. They're generally so.
So you wouldn't wear these just hanging around town.
E: They serve a very specific function. A: Right. They serve a very specific function.
What we're doing is contrasting them with the
snowshoe, which also has a specific function.
I think the name gives it away. (laughs)
E: There's so much ingenuity in it. A: Exactly.
E: And so much craftsmanship. A: Right.
E: I mean, to go out and to get all of the materials and
then to design this and then to make something that
actually functioned -- A: Right.
And that's also true about the reef shoes
because people had to come out with a --
you know, thinking about the materials and then how to
make them and all that. I think what this shows you is
that wherever people are, they are creative,
they try to figure out the right way to make the things
that they need for the environment that they live in.
E: So, what are we looking at here?
A: I think it's pretty obvious that these are all sandals.
What's interesting here is that the form really hasn't
changed in 2,000 years of sandals because these are
Egyptian sandals, 2,000 years old --
E: Wow. A: -- from our collection.
These are kids' sandals made probably, who knows,
in the 1990s. And then flipflops.
When you think about it, if we're talking about shoes for
hot weather climates, this is the shoe.
Why would you change the form if it suits the function, the need?
How much variation could you have on a theme, in a way?
Exactly.
So these are all children's shoes.
Right. No matter where, people want their kids to look good.
(laughs)
Right? I mean, look at these with the cute little bows and
the beads.
This is not useful. I mean, imagine a kid walking.
That's not for use or function.
That's just for fashion.
I would have tripped.
Right.
You know, there is a kind of common concern among
people in many cultures around status, pride, and identity,
and so I think showing that off in your children
and dressing your children through their adornment or
through accessorizing clothes -- E: And embellishments.
The level of detail that is put into these -- A: Right.
This is Cheyenne so this would have been Southern plains,
and this is a (indistinct), so that would have been northern.
So initially, of course, they didn't have access to beads.
Beads came from Europe.
When native peoples here started trading for beads,
It had a big impact on their local way of life.
And it wasn't just for beads but they traded fur for a lot of things.
The beaver pelts were traded and beaver was used by
the Europeans to make felt hats -- those big, British felt hats --
and all of that led to all of this massive overkilling of animals
impelled by the fur trade.
There's a history there.
E: There's a lot more implications about these shoes than just status and creativity.
So, while we're talking about shoes and the implications they have,
what are we looking at here?
It's about standards of beauty that are determined by men.
And that can vary from culture to culture.
Yeah, these are what they called lotus slippers,
and so from a young age, a woman's feet would be bound very tightly
in order to fit into these.
For a size comparison, these are as large as my hand.
You know, to be in a family where feet were bound,
because not all women in China had their feet bound --
E: Right.
A: Only wealthy women could do it because the
consequence was you couldn't walk.
What that's saying is you're wealthy enough that you don't have to work.
So in a sense it's very ironic because on the one hand,
you were wealthy, on the other hand you went through a lot of pain.
That's not so different from these, so before we start
castigating the Chinese, think about --
these are, what -- Manolo Blahnik shoes today cost, what --
A thousand bucks.
So wealthy women buy these shoes to show their status.
But they are also painful.
(laughs)
I could never wear these.
I don't. I think I own one pair of heels and I regret when I have to wear them.
And again, you're putting yourself through a lot of pain
to meet a standard of beauty that is determined by men.
Let me ask you this.
I know a lot of women in my life
that are very self-confident,
very empowered women,
and their decision to wear clothes like this,
their decision to uphold traditional beauty standards,
is something that gives them confidence
and empowerment.
Is there room for both?
That's a really, really good question
and that gets to the complicated way that human behavior is.
It's not just about, okay, I'm going to do this
because the man says to, it's also because
they know that they can
sometimes flip that narrative, you know.
They can wear the shoes and still be empowered,
as you say, absolutely.
And in the case of the Chinese women,
it didn't mean that they were just sitting there
doing the bidding of men.
They exerted power, too.
Just because times are tough
or because someone else is making the rules,
people find ways to subvert those rules
or overcome those rules, and act on their own behalf.
This is our last comparison of the day,
but it might be one of the more dramatic.
A: Totally. E: So what are these?
E: We'll start with these shoes. A: Okay.
Well, so these are shoes, maybe sandals,
from the Ottoman Empire.
They were made in Turkey.
Clearly, again, meant to show the high status,
celebrity, if you will,
and sort of prestige.
This is for somebody who doesn't have to walk.
E: Right. A: Doesn't have to work,
A: you know, can work with -- E: Or can work with primarily words and directions.
A: Exactly.
E: Not a lot of manual labor.
A: No manual labor happening in these shoes.
But then we're comparing them to these guys.
These are my favorite.
These are shoes that Michael Jordan himself donated
to the Field Museum, or loaned
to the Field Museum for our exhibition.
So obviously Michael Jordan is a major player (pun intended)
in sports history but also in the Chicago region.
And so what was the reason for wanting to have these
on display compared to impractical shoes of a Turkish diplomat?
The notion that status and celebrity is there in
many different cultures, especially cultures
where there is stratification, if you will,
where there's class,
or economic differences,
and showing off your status is important.
But there's differences.
So in Michael Jordan's case,
he attained his celebrity status by being
the best athlete in the world.
He and the Chicago Bulls of his time
changed the image of Chicago.
That kind of celebrity status
had an impact, just as perhaps
the person who wore these shoes
and made decisions for the Ottoman Empire had an impact.
The image of Chicago, if you think about it,
before the Bulls of the Jordan era,
if you said you're from Chicago,
they would say, "Oh, Al Capone!"
"The gangsters!"
You know, that's what Chicago was associated with.
Then after Michael Jordan,
and you said you were from Chicago, they were like,
"Oh, Michael Jordan!"
He became world-renowned.
That's pretty amazing.
That's pretty impactful.
Pretty interesting to know that we can
have all these thoughts and ideas based off of
their footwear.
Hey, thanks for watching this episode of The Brain Scoop!
This is gonna be our last episode for the year
and I wanted to say thanks to everybody
who responded to our survey.
We got a ton of really great responses
and so we're really gonna take that to heart
and stay tuned for more episodes in the new year.
Have a great break.
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