A few days ago, I posted a picture of a shoe on my Facebook. In fact, it was this one, from the Givenchy resort collection that just landed at Barney’s New York:
there’s the fact that shopping for shoes is largely free of body anxiety associated with clothes shopping.
This is a fascinating point that I'd never thought about. Partly because I am actually increasingly anxious about shoes.
I've always liked the way heels look, whether on me or on other people. But I can't stand on them for more than an hour. Walking in them is difficult for me. I have always had a wide foot, which made shopping for pretty things (rare are the stores that stock wide sizes, or shapes of shoe that are made to fit wide feet without blistering) tricky to begin with. But heels hurt. I have knock-knees and am developing bunions and inexplicable I-am-not-even-30-yet arthritis in one of my big toes.
All this to say that there's a certain sour-grapes-ness aspect to my grumbling about uncomfortable shoes. Every time I see a beautiful pair, with or without a foot in it, my appreciation is twinned with yes but I can't wear that, so I'll let that salt what follows.
I started wearing heels in my thirties because I realized that for my feet -- with a very high arch and short Achilles tendon -- heels are much more comfortable than flat shoes. And shoe comfort is largely about quality: I have cheap 3 inch heels that would hurt after an hour or so, and 4 inch I can walk three miles in with no discomfort. Nowadays, as I teach three classes per day and am on my feet the whole time, my heels have to be comfortable. Having said that, if you cannot find heels that work for you, I would agree that not wearing them is probably a good idea
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As for pelvis-buttocks thing: I've seen it before, and I find it puzzling.
Actually what I was thinking of wasn't studies (though I've seen those too) but marketing that touts the pelvis/butt emphasis as a selling point for wearing the heels, like this. (Have better sex and less painful childbirth! IN HEELS!)
First, corsets DO compress nerves and arteries even if they are not laced tight enough to displace the internal organs.
This is super interesting to me because there are elements of corset-wearing that feel beneficial to me, posture and comfort-wise, in much the way you're describing heels. I also seem to remember costume geeks at Wiscon a few years ago telling me that the history of the corset was ultimately one of support, with tight-lacing and organ-shifting being the exception rather than the rule, but I have no more than anecdata on that -- it's just striking me how opposite-and-equal our experiences of heel v. corset are.
In some circles (steampunk cons) corsets ARE expected -- to the point where I felt pressured into
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"As a grad student I'd notice the women around me might wear comfortable, non-dressy shoes for sitting at a computer, but would put on heels to teach (as did I until it started hurting too much)" and "I do not feel comfortable or confident in heels, so feel like I've been sexualised in a way I have little control over"
OK, we sort of need to admit at this point that putting on heels for teaching is about authority, not sexualization.
While I find Carrie Bradshaw an embarrassing example of idealized womanhood, I will admit to having a small shoe obsession. It's not about a particular style - I have high heeled boots and flat hiking boots, pumps and slippers, 2" ankle boots and killer Cuban heels
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There are certainly many reasons to love shoes; I just got a Rochas pair, and they are just so beautiful and well made. I just object to the notion that wearing them makes me into a scion of patriarchy.
The assumption that we dress up (heels/dresses/hats/nails/hair/makeup) for men is way too much widespread. Perhaps they should try dressing more often (heels/dresses/hats/nails/hair/makeup) to feel the difference.
This is really interesting to me particularly as shoes are actually a very anxious subject for me -- I have some joint issues and very hard to fit feet, which means I basically spend hours and hours and hours researching, ordering, and returning various comfort shoes. My foot size hasn't changed -- or at least hasn't changed much -- since I was 16 or so, but what I can and cannot wear has
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This is a fascinating point that I'd never thought about. Partly because I am actually increasingly anxious about shoes.
I've always liked the way heels look, whether on me or on other people. But I can't stand on them for more than an hour. Walking in them is difficult for me. I have always had a wide foot, which made shopping for pretty things (rare are the stores that stock wide sizes, or shapes of shoe that are made to fit wide feet without blistering) tricky to begin with. But heels hurt. I have knock-knees and am developing bunions and inexplicable I-am-not-even-30-yet arthritis in one of my big toes.
All this to say that there's a certain sour-grapes-ness aspect to my grumbling about uncomfortable shoes. Every time I see a beautiful pair, with or without a foot in it, my appreciation is twinned with yes but I can't wear that, so I'll let that salt what follows.
This gave me some pause:
But of course heels may and do ( ... )
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Actually what I was thinking of wasn't studies (though I've seen those too) but marketing that touts the pelvis/butt emphasis as a selling point for wearing the heels, like this. (Have better sex and less painful childbirth! IN HEELS!)
First, corsets DO compress nerves and arteries even if they are not laced tight enough to displace the internal organs.
This is super interesting to me because there are elements of corset-wearing that feel beneficial to me, posture and comfort-wise, in much the way you're describing heels. I also seem to remember costume geeks at Wiscon a few years ago telling me that the history of the corset was ultimately one of support, with tight-lacing and organ-shifting being the exception rather than the rule, but I have no more than anecdata on that -- it's just striking me how opposite-and-equal our experiences of heel v. corset are.
In some circles (steampunk cons) corsets ARE expected -- to the point where I felt pressured into ( ... )
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OK, we sort of need to admit at this point that putting on heels for teaching is about authority, not sexualization.
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