Nike Has A Woman Problem

Behind the scenes, Nike’s corporate culture has always been misogynistic. Now, their dishonesty and disregard for half of the population is catching up with them.

My op-ed on Nike’s perpetual inauthenticity in pretending to champion women but in real life, treating them (us) with astonishing disregard, ran in Outkick today.

Re-publishing here as well.

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Just 100 miles from Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, a male high school track athlete became the women’s 200 meter state champion this past May. Sophomore Aayden Gallagher, who identifies as female, beat seven girls in the 200-meter dash, after having dominated for the entire season, never having participated in track before. 

That thing that never happens, is happening again. And again. 

Observers are not asking which track shoes Gallagher was wearing or what training regimen was followed. They know it wasn’t the shoe or the practice. 

Males are competing against females. And dominating. And everyone knows why. Males are stronger and faster than females. Which is why we have a women’s category in the first place. 

But Nike, the brand that typically weighs in on every social issue from racism to the environment to women’s empowerment, has nothing to say on the matter of males stealing trophies and team berths from women and girls. 

It is easier to ignore the truth of males’ obvious athletic advantage over women than to stand up and say a very true and obvious thing and risk criticism from the gender ideologues.

Nike wants the street cred and "values" driven halo of being pro-woman. But without having to take any of the risks that come with truly taking a principled stand. 

Women’s sports are on fire. Female athletes are finally getting the attention and roaring crowds they deserve. Unprecedented deals with Caitlin Clark, the U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team and the coming Paris Olympics should be lifting Nike sales. And yet, Nike is downsizing and its stock price continues to falter.

I’d argue their dishonesty and disregard for half of the population is catching up with them. 

Nike’s brand image has been built on authenticity. But I think we’re finally seeing that that authenticity is a façade. They pretend to champion women. But in reality, they treat them with astonishing disregard. 

I interviewed at Nike in 2011. I was honored to be recruited by their global head of talent for an executive role. As a former elite athlete and national gymnastics champion, I loved their company’s mission statement – if you have a body you’re an athlete – and I admired their If You Let Me Play ad which featured portraits of young girls interspersed with powerful statistics about the benefits of participation in sports. 

I was not offered a job and I was disappointed. But mostly I was angry. In my full day of interviews, every male executive I spoke with was more arrogant than the one before. I nodded along to their stories of weekend-warrior half-marathons. But mere mention of my athletic background as a long time U.S. National Gymnastics Team member was perceived as arrogance and out of step with their "culture." 

That experience stuck with me and 15 years later, I’ve decided to build my own culture. And my own brand. One that is truly pro-female athlete and pro-women’s equality. Not just in word, but in our actions as well. 

I recently launched my own athletic clothing brand called XX-XY Athletics. 

Our mission is to stand up for female athletes and the protection of women’s sports while delivering world class product so that women (and men) no longer have to compromise. Now, the 70% of Americans who agree with us can get the very best workout clothes from a brand that aligns with their values. No woke virtue signaling to curry favor or simply avoid criticism from those very noisy people who ignore truth to further an ideology. 

Before I decided to take my experience as an elite athlete and award-winning fashion executive to build my own company, I looked around at the options within the athletic clothing category. What I saw was a bunch of brands pretending to champion women but doing no such thing. Chief brand hypocrite was Nike. 

I saw an opportunity and I decided to start my own female-led, female-designed, 100% pro-woman athlete brand. We value honesty and courage over hypocrisy and cowering to the woke mob. 

And now, as the founder and CEO of my very own startup, I can tell you: Nike has a serious problem. 

Nike’s public virtue signaling is overshadowing its culture of innovation and revealing the inauthenticity of the brand. Caught up in seeming good rather than doing what they do best, the biggest most beloved athletic brand in the world has stopped innovating while alienating the largest and fastest growing market segment: women. 

Women buyers dominate the athletic-wear market, representing $164.5 billion in revenue in 2022. The female economy is the world’s largest and fastest growing market economy, expected to control approximately $15 trillion of global consumer spending by 2028. 

Last year, Nike hired trans superstar influencer Dylan Mulvaney to model sports bras despite the fact that Mulvaney is not an athlete and appears not to have breasts. 

To hire men to model sports bras and endorse Nike Women’s products is about as misogynistic and un-authentic as it gets. It’s like they’re telling us that males make better women than women do. While pretending to champion women. 

Behind the scenes, Nike’s corporate culture has always been misogynistic. 

In 2018, there was a revolt by female executives at Nike claiming sexual harassment was widespread at the company. A dossier was left on then CEO Mark Parker’s desk with accounts of staff outings at strip clubs, a leader attempting to forcibly kiss a female employee, and human resources ignoring the claims. 

In 2019, Allyson Felix, 7-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field, published her story of gender discrimination at Nike. Felix was one of Nike’s most marketed athletes and when she went into renewed contract negotiations after having a child, she attempted to secure maternity protections. The company offered 70% less than her prior contract and refused to include maternity leave stipulations.

In November 2019, Mary Cain shared her story of abuse in Nike’s Oregon Running Project. Cain joined the training club when she was 17 and the youngest track and field athlete to have ever made a World Championship team. By the time she left the club four years later, her performance had declined due to bullying coaching practices and fat shaming, which led to an eating disorder that caused her body to break down.

Ultimately, the club’s Coach Alberto Salazar was fired and the club was shut down. And former golden-boy, do-no-wrong CEO Mark Parker was shown the door in a cloud of controversy.

Woke stances from big companies are a charade, nothing more than a money-making strategy. There’s nothing true or authentic about their "values." 

But when your whole brand identity has been built on authenticity, and it’s exposed as utterly fraudulent, it can be a tough landing. Nike is feeling the pain of that now. 

A much-needed breath of fresh air in the athletic apparel industry is overdue. It’s long past time for an athletic brand for women, by women, that respects female athletes and actually stands up for them. Even when it’s hard. 

Give us great product and don’t lie to us. If you say you stand up for women, just do it. 

No more empty slogans.