Are high heels used to make women weaker?

[angell84]

I am in a cafe having a cup of tea with a friend.

A small woman stumbled in, in high heels that she could barely walk in. She was with a large domineering man - he was striding ahead, and she could barely keep up.

I looked at her, and I had a thought that I have had a few times.

Why do women wear high heels? And Why do the fashion industry keep pushing high heels at women?

They are uncomfortableto wear, they physically hurt us in the long run- I looked at a scientific study online before I wrote this. It said that wearing high heels weaken women's muscles.

And they make us incredibly weak and vulnerable - we are barely able to walk - let alone run, wearing them. I.e it suits men with bad intentions - for us to wear them.

Does anyone else think this?

@ffswhatnext If no-one was running on treadmills, then there wouldn't be people making videos. Doesn't matter if there's 10 or 100's.

You said earlier that 'loads of people' run on treadmills in high heels. I am genuinely so amazed/fascinated/amused that anyone would actually claim this. I think it's the most batshit thing I've ever heard on MN (which is saying something).

Are you a regular gym goer?

Yes, thanks for the help @Eckhart sometimes I do have difficulty trying to explain things.

Plus I thought the intent would have been obvious considering I posted it with the post about the disbelieve of going to the gym in heels.

@Reginabambina Scarlett I do normally wear heels that are high because I find them more comfortable for ordinary day to day wear than say shoes with a small heel but in terms of flat shoes in mean it in the normal sense of the word I.e. a shoe without an adequate heel. Shoes like ballet flats, converse etc are flats and are pretty bad for you. Shoes with a heel are not flats

I'm still a bit confused by your definitions. You said your walking boots 'are not flats'. I don't think that we can be using the same definition of flats, because I've never seen walking boots that I would consider to be 'heels'.

My walking boots look like this - if you can see the picture, would you describe these as flats? Because i would.

I walk miles and miles every day, so I need really good support, and I consider all of my shoes/boots to be 'flats' (with a couple of exceptions that have wedge heels) But they all have good support - nothing like ballet pumps or Converse.

But we have videos proving that some people have walked on the moon. It doesn't mean loads of people are at it.

Am I missing something?

There are loads of videos going back years showing this type of thing. There are thousands of them.

Am I the only one who can see these? Are they all supposed to be fake?

Or is it because I may or may not have seen this in person?

People have claimed you cannot run in heels.
People mentioned heels and the gym.
People mentioned how heels prevent you from doing this and more.

Yet here are people, posting videos of them doing just that.

Honestly can someone please explain what I'm missing by showing a video that these things do happen, that is causing so much confusion.

Oh and a quick google of the words heels workout videos shows about 144,000.

Of course, loads is a subjective number. But I would consider that loads.

Well this thread has gone a bit mental since yesterday

I’m not sure why people are getting angry about heels v trainers, to be honest.

It’s fairly obvious, when all is said and done, that heels, like many other items of clothing, do clearly have gendered / sexualised connotations. They make women sway their bum and tilt the bum outwards and men are predisposed to this curvature of the back and “accentuated posteriors” because curvy hips in general signal female fertility on a subconscious level. Or something like that. Also heels make women take smaller steps and appear more physically vulnerable and many men respond to this, consciously or unconsciously. It’s exactly the same thing as women reacting to broad shoulders or other male characteristics if these appear enhanced. It’s primitive instinct and we’re all animals, whatever we think.

Yes heels do make you taller, but if it was only about being / looking taller, we’d all be walking round on massive 6-inch block platforms wouldn’t we? But sexy these are not, which is why “heels” have evolved in the way they have, to suggest a woman is poised on her toes and tilted forward so that her chest and bum are pushed out to compensate. This is the crux of it, basically.

The other aspect is habit. If women know that a particular dress or outfit will look better with a heel and they are used you being able to look slightly taller / slimmer / more elegant / whatever they feel the case may be, then they may well choose to sacrifice comfort for appearances and extra confidence.

BUT, I don’t think it’s a contradiction to say that heels can be sexualising and empowering, or repressive and “free choice” - all at the same time. It depends how you exercise that choice and how aware you are that “choice is not made in a vacuum” (god I’m irritated by the over-use of that phrase on MN, but there it is again). Human will always want to express and clothing, including all kinds of shoes, are just part of this. It’s human nature to want to appeal to the opposite sex and to feel good about yourself and people don’t need to justify themselves. Wearing wellies or trainers every day does not give anyone the moral high ground.

@ffswhatnext Oh and a quick google of the words heels workout videos shows about 144,000.

A quick google of the words "painting with your vagina videos" has about 20 million results.

Wow! I had no idea! Imagine me using my hands all these years like an idiot!

Honestly @ffswhatnext this is the gift that keeps on giving. I hope you're still posting next week if we all go into lockdown.

It doesn't make you weaker when you are 13st and you step back onto a groper's toes in your stilettos. Oopsy.

There is no need to be so patronising.

Or is it that you simply retort to this when your joking about using a treadmill, turns out to be a reality?

@ffswhatnext I get your point, it just sounds like you're saying gyms are full off heel wearers, often men.

@Scarlett no, those aren’t flats, flats are flat, although those are almost flat though aren’t they. The look of them would put me off, they look too flat to be comfortable. My walking boots have a tiny bit more of a heel to them which is probably the threshold of what I find comfortable (they’re proper trekking type boots for going up and down mountains, day to day I wear heels and walk in them just fine).

Although maybe those are flat, the more I look at them the harder I find it to judge the angle.

There could be for all I know. I stopped using the gym years ago as I got fed up with catty remarks and nasty people leaving a pool of sweat for others to clean. Have a home gym, although not a treadmill 🤣

And thank you for pointing out where the confusion lies.

If you have plantar fasciitis, completely flat shoes are rubbish.

@Reginabambina I would call them 'flats' because they're not heels, though the heel is raised. I think you and I are using a different definition of 'flat' shoes.

I walk around 7 miles on a normal weekday and sometimes much further in those.

@Graciebobcat
I get plantar fasciitis and sometimes posterior tibial tendonitis and need lots of support, so I generally wear orthotics inside to raise the heel even more. But it's very different from a high-heeled shoe in terms of support and comfort for walking long distances.

@ffswhatnext There is no need to be so patronising. Or is it that you simply retort to this when your joking about using a treadmill, turns out to be a reality?

That 'reality' being that you think people regularly go on treadmills wearing high heels????!

I was trying to gently make the point that the fact that there are thousands of Youtube videos of people doing ANY mad thing you can think of doesn't actually translate to reality, in any meaningful sense.

But on balance I think I'd prefer to hear more about your view of the world. It must be bloody amazing with all the people running marathons in high heels and painting with their vaginas.

actually I can't believe i am even having this argument. I feel a little bit like I'm going mad.

Again, I was pointing out that people do it. They have been doing it for years Their reasons don't matter. No different to yesterday when males were named as heel wearers.

You mocked a poster at the idea of going to the gym in heels.

Hey ho, here's a video to show this happens.

Oh and seen as you mentioned marathons. Did you know records have been broken when it comes to competing in heels?

But carry on if it makes you feel better about yourself and mock me. And I will continue to live in a world that believes you can run in heels on a treadmill, and even run a marathon or two.

Cos1ma

Brava! Great post.

@ScarlettBlaize yes, i think that’s what it is. When I think flats I think literally flats. The shoes in your picture would be borderline for me, I’d probably have to put them on in order to decide what I think they are. Essentially I tend to think of anything that I find uncomfortable for lack of a heel as flat which obviously includes very very slightly heeled shoes as well but I would generally limit to totally flat shoes. I guess it’s one of those things that seems like it should be obvious but there are different possible conceptualisations.

@ffswhatnext
But carry on if it makes you feel better about yourself and mock me. And I will continue to live in a world that believes you can run in heels on a treadmill, and even run a marathon or two.

Sorry, I can't talk to you any more. The world is already mad enough today as it is. This is like when it seems like a good idea to respond to the lady with the interesting hat and all of the carrier bags on the tube when you're slightly pissed, and five stops later you're regretting ever having admitted that you speak English. Best of luck to you.

@Reginabambina I don't think that totally flat flat shoes are comfortable for anyone. I need serious support under my arches and heel. But I don't think that proper high heels provide that support.
The walking boots I posted above are borderline for me in terms of comfort - I generally wear orthotics inside them.

@Scarlet I think for me it might be a height related thing. I am quite tall and my feet are quite large so I guess that proportionately for me a 3 inch heel would have a similar effect to a two inch heel for someone average height and a one inch heel for a short person. Then there’s also a posture issue. I am heavy chested so it’s beneficial to be able to ‘lean back’ into the heel iyswim. In flat shoes I often end up thrusting my hips forwards to keep easy balance which is obviously very bad for my lower back whereas in heels having my feet angled reduces a lot of the strain, a bit like leaning against a wall I suppose.

@Reginabambina
Well, I'm also tallish (5'8) but I have small boobs, bum and feet, so maybe that's the reason

Haven't rtt but I think you are completely right OP. Obviously a slight block heel is fine, but teetery teeny stilettos do seem to make the wearer physically vulnerable, especially if you wanted to run off over a field or something. You could use them as weapons in the right environment of course, but I think I'd rather be able to run at speed over rough terrain. (I've given it a lot of thought over my life too!).