to find it a bit "helpless woman" that on xfactor all the damsels have to be helped down the stairs

[magicpixie]

i know they are wearing heels

but how about wearing something you can actually walk in ?????

I think it just sends out the wrong message

No offence, when I re read my post, I was not sure i was clear.

I don't watch it anymore but I'd rather they all wear massive heels and fall have to be helped down than all that fannying about barefoot they were doing a few years ago!

We'll as long as you look sexy it doesn't matter if you can't actually walk. So it's nerves and lights in eyes etc as to why they get a helping hand - do the guys get a helping hand down the stairs as well?

both are equally bad for your feet though..ftr.

heels might give you bunions/blisters/whatever, but the current style of flats like ballet flats and toms...etc are very, very bad for the arches of your feet, they don't have the proper support in them and encourage people to walk with flat feet.

the military boot thing going on right now, those are the best kind of shoes.. good solid, supportive sole and a slight heel.

What is a "tom" please, splat?

I think the problems people have in flats is because (I think?) heels shorten the tendon at the back of your foot and then you cant wear flats comfortably either.
Maybe someone knows more and can explain it?

They wear very high heels (probably with a platform too, which will increase their instability) to create the illusion of longer legs and a sleeker silhouette to complement the gowns and boost the glamour factor. It's about boosting the status of the female judges over the contestants, and adding to the impression of 'event' television that requires red carpet levels of dress protocols.

I couldn't agree more about the general impracticality and the wider messages it sends about our expectations of women's beauty as paramount, but I can't see shows like X Factor showcasing jeans and converse any time soon.

toms are a particular brand of shoes in favour at the moment gentle flimsy canvas thingies that cost a fortune!

Coming from someone who cannot remember the last time she wore heels... I don't see what's wrong with a woman choosing to wear them for the fact that she likes how they look or whatever the reason. With that in mind, if I was going to wear them on a shiny stage I wouldn't mind a helping hand like others have said, rather than falling flat on my face. If they felt so strongly about walking alone they could just say no? but I don't actually watch xfactor so what do I know... I'm just feeling a bit bored and wanted to chat

Toms are shoes that look as though they were made in nursery by a group of toddlers let loose with canvas. They have the sort of shape of a baked potato.

Out of curiosity I just looked up a picture of "toms".
They reminded me strangely of slippers!

I agree they don't look great for foot care either.

I went to a Christening this weekend where several teenaged girls were walking like Frankensteins monster due to ridiculous heels. Silly girls I thought. .

But then I remembered how I once went out aged 17 in six inch peephole toed heels in SNOW that had iced over. I spent more time on my arse than upright.

I'd have fucked down the X factor stairs if I was wearing them!.

I HATE it when a bloke tries to help me when I'm doing something like: getting in or out of a boat or off a coach. I know they mean well but nothing is going to throw me off balance and make me fall more than someone grabbing my hand and pulling me.

No one forces a woman to wear heels. It is not modern foot binding - we don't like heels, we take them off. Foot binding caused crippling damage and was started at an age before girls were old enough to make a choice.

I love heels. They do make you look great. BUT they do not have to be so high or such an extreme shape that you cant walk in them to achieve that visual benefit.

Everything to do with womens appearance particularly is going to such extremes right now.

Will we soon see false lashes so bloody long that they hang down your cheeks and stop you being able to see properly?

It seem laughable - but really it's no different to sticking something on your feet which stops you being able to get down a flight of stairs on account of how it 'enhances your shape' .

High heels aren't a modern invention and they weren't always worn exclusively by women lol. I'm a hardened feminist but foot binding? Really? Really though?