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This is a question posed by Christine Cox, a student in The University of Akron’s Women’s Studies Program in her recent blog post: One shoe could fit all — if shoes weren’t gendered.

Christine works in a shoe store and notes that:

“…kids’ shoes are separated by size, with boys on top and girls on the bottom. Parents are quick to ask if tennis shoes are “boys” or “girls.” Does it matter? If their child likes them, what difference does it make?

That’s actually a really good question. Sure, there are a number of reasons why you might not feel comfortable with your child’s shoe choice. But, as long as the shoes fit your child correctly and will work for what you need them to (like tennis shoes for after school), why wouldn’t you buy the pair that your child likes – even if they were designed for a different gender?

While the idea of a gender-neutral, universal-style kid’s shoe could simplify shoe-shopping, it may not be popular with everyone, given our culture’s desire for options and clarity. But, style is a different issue from size, and the notion of simplifying shoe sizes across ages and genders seems reasonable right now.

In much of Europe, for example, shoes are sized in centimeter lengths. The size is not arbitrary or gender-specific; it is simply your foot’s length. Easy? I think so.

In the U.S., though, shoe sizes vary by gender – at least for adults. Christine highlights the differences:

“At the moment, kid’s sizes start at one for babies and go to size 13 ½ in kid’s. The process starts over again at size one for kids and ends at size 4 ½.

Kid’s sizes go straight into men’s size five, and proceed up to size 15 or more. Women’s shoes are two sizes smaller than kid’s/men’s, and start at size five up to size 13 or more. In other words, a woman wearing a size seven could wear a size five in men’s or kids extended sizes, expanding her choices.

Starting at size one for babies and going all the way up to size 28 or more in men’s, with no difference for women’s would simplify the whole process.”

So, you don’t need to worry about gendered sizes until your child outgrows child shoe size 13 1/2, but wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to worry about style either? If shopping for kids’ shoes was as easy as finding the right fit?