Semmelhack explained how sneakers were originally designed for men and women, specifically because in the middle of the 19th-century lawn tennis came into fashion and comfortable footwear was essential to this upper echelon activity. But as basketball came into prominence, so did the heroic basketball star: the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, the Walt Fraziers, the Michael Jordans. Watching these extremely talented men perform at such a high intensity became the selling point for the sneaker and sneaker companies began to follow suit. “Basketball's certainly a team sport, but there's something about the individual and the individual's movements that allow these superstars to really stand out,” Semmelhack told me. Although women's sneakers make up 10% of the market, Semmelhack classified the cult of sneakerheads as the “link between street ball, urban culture, basketball, bravado, masculine identity, rugged individuality, and fashion.”

A larger than life portrait of Michael Jordan hangs on the back wall, as the iconic basketball player's role in sneaker culture is undeniable; Jordan's are present in droves. Other highlights include Christian Louboutin's 2012 Roller-Boat sneakers, that look like they could be worn on the runway or in a Mad Max dystopian future. The 1989 flick Voguing: The Message plays looping on the right wall. (The caption describes voguing as "an athletic and competitive dance style" "pioneered in New York City by economically disadvantaged young people in part as a way to express their identities and group affiliations." Here too, it choses a masculine focus, adding: "Although voguers who identify or present as female do not typically wear sneakers, contestants in ballroom categories based on the ability to display male heterosexual “realness” often do wear sneakers, to authenticate their look. Once again, sneakers play a significant role in constructing masculinity.")

A plaque at the Sneaker Culture exhibit, entitled "Women and Sneaker Culture," addresses this issue: "Female interest in sneaker culture has largely been redirected to shoes that refer to sneakers and yet aren’t the real thing, like the wedge sneaker. This shoe is a part of a larger continuum of footwear made for women, dating back to the 1920s, that flirts with, but doesn’t admit, women into the sneaker game." And, unfortunately, there's embarrassing evidence of that all around. Just look at the name Lady Footlocker, because women need lady shoes for their lady feet.

But while the voice of female sneakerheads may not be heard by certain sneaker brands and outlets, it is certainly heard in the sneakerhead community. Kicks On Fire, a widely read sneaker blog and app, recently launched its #ChicksOnFire campaign. The campaign celebrates female sneaker culture by profiling certain collectors and uniting them with others in the movement over social media. Affirming and glamorizing, a hashtag check on Instagram or Twitter portrays the community as emboldened sneaker lovers (though it is occasionally hijacked by porno-trolls). Yet at the Rise of Sneaker Culture, a framed picture by Hank Willis Thomas hangs on the left wall of the exhibit portraying a woman posed to kiss a sneaker, the red of her lipstick matching the red heel of the shoe. There seems to be a tension between owning one's sexuality and keeping women out of sneaker culture, co-opting their sexuality to sell a product marketing towards men. When I approached Semmelhack about the erotic undertones of sneaker culture, she had a lot to say.