Fashion Has Deformed Women's Feet

I think there are 2 separate issues here:

1. yes fashions in footwear for women include styles that are bad for our feet/ posture/ comfort/ ability to run or walk easily while wearing them. This is a feminist issue.

2. Bunions are often hereditary and appear in childhood (this is certainly my experience - they run in the family and I've had a misshapen toe joint since late primary school).

I don't think it's fair or accurate to assume that any woman you see with bunions has had a lifetime of cramming her feet into pointy shoes.

I wore heels right through my 20s, and still do in my 30s (though not as often, they're certainly not as fashionable as they once were), and my feet are beautiful. No bunions or wonky toes or hard bits.

That said, I make sure any shoes I do wear are high quality, well fitting and if they have a heel it is usually a sturdy/ chunky heel (rather than stilleto). Footwear is one area where you really shouldn't scrimp if you can help it. My Dad has terrible feet due to growing up in poverty, I'm lucky that even though I also grew up poor my parents took great care of my feet (and teeth).

Yes there are a mixture of things going on , one of which is shoes design and the later aspect disproportionately affects women due to the influence of society and the every physio I ever met makes some comment to that effect

Does seem to be a female gene though?
Could be. Females are more prone to joint and ligament problems. We tend to be more flexible.

YANBU, they are also damaging for your spine too.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4842473/

My yoga/pilates/personal trainer has 'deformed' feet and she lives in trainers. It's not just about shoes but what you do or even how you are born.

What the hell is going on with these responses? Obviously societal expectations of what women should wear influences women's choices. Obviously high heels are part of that expectation (although there may be a recent shift in that), women have lost their jobs for not wearing heels. www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-36264229

Just because your feet aren't affected, doesn't mean there isn't a systemic issue at play. Can we please consider the bigger picture here instead of getting all bent out of shape over some perceived personal slight?

And yes, it is reminiscent of foot binding.

Meant 'feminist' issue, not feminine, lol.

Unless your job requires high heels as part of the dress code (which is a feminine issue) there is no reason to wear high heels. There never has been. Women aren't sheep, we don't have to follow fashion if we choose not to.
Apart from a few years in my 20s when I went to discos I've never worn high heels, and they were usually strappy sandals. I only wore high heel court shoes for weddings, and I wouldn't even do that now.
My feet still aren't beautiful though, I have morton's toe, and a few toes are a bit bent and misshaped due to being broken in the past, no bunions though, and my feet get me round quite nicely, I walk anything between 5-12 miles every single day.

I think it's generally down to ill-fitting shoes in childhood.

Does seem to be a female gene though?
Anyone know?

I have spent a lot of my life not wearing shoes, and when I do, they are very rarely pointy shoes. I believe in shoes I could run for the bus in. I still have bunions, though, which is down to my genes - runs in my mother's side of the family.

I do think shoes are a feminist issue, but they are not the sole cause of bunions. They may exacerbate issues if you're already prone to them, but sometimes they are inevitable.

Handsnotwands
My mother and my grandmother also had bunions. I have spent most of my working life on the feet in flat comfortable shoes.
I have a bump that my daughter likes to call my bunion to be. Definitely one on the way. I asked the orthopaedic foot specialist at work if there is anything I can do to prevent it getting worse and he said No. if I'm going to get one I will do and it's probably in my genes.

That said he gave a lecture on foot surgery illustrated with pictures of celebs in high heeled narrow toed shoes and the occasional picture he had garnered of a celeb with a bad foot deformity. And rubbed his hands with glee saying there will always be plenty of work for him.

I think it must be a bit of both. Ballet dancers often have shocking feet.

I have dreadful feet, have had bunion surgery. The women in my family (and my male cousin) all have or had bunions. I now have severe arthritis in the big toe joint and, in my sixties, find it painful to walk.
I very rarely wore high heels and certainly have not done in the past 30 years. I find it it very difficult to find any shoes to fit now.

It is largely genetic, not a fashion victim problem. It’scertainly not merely cosmetic.

I loved heels, could dance all night no issues. Never wore pointy shoes. Unfortunately pregnancy made my feet much wider as the arches flattened, and also made the old injuries I had worse.
Still can't wear completely flat shoes though.

Yes women have agency but have you noticed that men, who also have agency, tend not to wear high heels? What else do you think might be going on there to explain the different choices ?

Yes everyone has free will, but everyone also is influenced by societal expectations and to deny that for many people that those expectations control their choices is a tad naive.

This made me laugh! What a load of nonsense!

My feet are minging. But I have probably only worn heels 4 times in my life.

Wasn’t there a reported ‘thing’ a few years back for pinky toe Amputation to fit into teensy pointy toed shoes (or was that fashion rag nonsense or an urban myth?)

Also, the way you've titled this thread makes it sound like fashion has 'happened' to women, and 'made their feet deformed.' The general consensus with me and my friends for example, is that we would much rather be comfortable on a night out and wear flats. If other easily impressionable people want to potentially break their necks from wearing 6 inch heels, that's their choice. Women have agency, and I can think of no repercussions for deciding to not wear them. The fashion industry is run by women and gay males, so it's basically up to ourselves what the demand is.

Round here it's only the last few years that the majority of women have stopped wearing heels and unsupportive shoes for work and social occasions.

Maybe it's also the cheap shitty shoes with no arch support that people insist on buying from the likes of primark, etc. Or not buying wide fit shoes because they aren't always available in the desired style. Or people wearing shoes indoors as opposed to letting their feet 'breathe.' Could be from pregnancy.. I honestly don't think that most women are going round in high heels often enough to deform their feet. It's an anomaly for me to see a woman in the supermarket or High Street in High heels.

Me too Justajot! My feet look like babies’feet - almost perfectly rectangular - shaped more like the shoe box than the shoe

Mine too, Justajot! I also have disproportionately short toes, so short shoes don’t fit in the right places.

Luckily I’m happy to be a scruff.

Why are you looking at other people's feet in the class instead of concentrating on your own breathing and movements? It's not a beauty contest.