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?

And ties, worn predominantly by men.

Angel
No one is telling or even forcing women to wear heels so that they cannot escape a terrorist attack. Women are not so weak minded that they just blindly obey the high heel fashion designers who are selling these shoes.

Im a survivor of a knife attack and I wasn’t wearing heels then because it was at a festival. I was stabbed in a pair of knee high boots with no heel. I highly doubt that her choice of footwear made any difference to being attacked or her escape chances on the London Bridge.

In fact,that’s low key victim blaming to assume she could have avoided being stabbed if she weren’t wearing heels.

Choices are not made in a vacuum.

Scarves may have risks of accident, but do not damage health from regular wear. Heels do.

@PlanDeRaccordement please don't ever say that I am victim blaming again. I hate when I show concern for people - to be told that I am victim blaming.

I have said numerous times - I am blaming the fashion world/ society for telling women they should be wearing these things at all.

If you don't agree with me about them being unsafe, do you agree with me about them causing physical harm to women's bodies.

Numerous studies show that they damage the muscles in women's legs.

I just asked my male flatmate what he thinks about heels. Maybe I hang around with similiar minded people, and we would have the same opinion anyway, but he said that

"I hate them, any time I see a woman in them I think that she is going to fall over".

So the fashion world/society looked at her clothes that morning and picked out the heels for her? When so many others in the face of the same fashion world/society picked out flat shoes? How on earth is a person's daily choice of shoe not their responsibility? Who chose what you're wearing today, @Angel84? Who are you going to blame it on?

now it is hopefully no longer part of a work dress code, only the stupid wear staggering heels. It is difficult to buy low heels, true.

can't stop stupid so no sympathy.

Do men want women to wear high heels to make them weaker? I'm sure some do. And either way they do make most women less agile.

Are high-heels sexualised? In the minds of some people yes. Even those who are high-heel fans will say, 'they make my legs more attractive' and 'flats look frumpy'. Now of course being attractive isn't ALL about sexual attraction, but we cannot say they are not linked - in the minds of some people all of the time, and most people some of the time. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to look sexually attractive anyway.

But there is also nothing wrong with looking 'frumpy' if that means out of fashion, not conforming to feminine stereotypes and not making huge efforts to stand out as non-conformist either. That's my chosen look. And I'm happy with it.

I'm all for women wearing whatever they like. But I'm also for them making conscious decisions on it that they are happy with, because for centuries women's decisions have been influenced by the patriarchy and being aware of that then making a decision that suits you is really doing what you want.

And I find it very sad, that whatever your opinion, some would resort to calling other women thick or make some supposedly pithy remark that seems to show no real engagement just a desire to put someone else down.

It seems that victim blaming is frequently pulled out as a trump card to stop people discussing things that only women do — and choices are NOT made in a vacuum, the industries (fashion/entertainment etc) and society´s expectations play a large part — and how those things could contribute to making women less safe..

Yes, men cause male violence, but causation can involve multiple factors and it is only prudent to analyse what they are.

The lady with the high heel shoes in the London Bridge attack was apparently trying to take them off, not sure that constitutes as 'victim blaming' - just very unfortunate

I’d like to see someone try to run outdoors with no shoes, having had to take off high heels. That really would make you more vulnerable.

I can't run in my flip flops either, so does it mean there are a weapon of the patriarchy to keep me weak, vulnerable and ... can't remember other words used above.

I like my flip flops 🤷

Surely if a woman wears heels it is because she wants to.
If she is with a man then he has no right to dictate what she chooses to wear on her feet.
It is up to the woman if she thinks they are suitable.

I’d like to see someone try to run outdoors with no shoes, having had to take off high heels. That really would make you more vulnerable

It wouldn’t. I can barely walk in high heels, I can run quite fast in bare feet.

Im not comparing it to wearing hells, I’m comparing it to wearing sensible shoes (you know , like men do).

Jesus, people are obtuse.

@JustInCaseCakeHappens DOWN WITH THE FLIP FLOPS!!!

You can run fast in bare feet on a typical tarmacked surface , as you’d find in most cities? In the Rain? Or on gravel/stones/blaze? Ok. You must have amazingly tough feet.

I just really like them. Sorry

Surely most women can decide for themselves how they want to look, feel and if they can function properly wearing certain footware and they should do it their own way.
The man in your story sounds like an arse. I always set the pace when walking with DH or any other man. Who tries to keep up with men?
I can actually run in heels (nowhere near as fast as trainers obviously) and have been wearing them in and off since I was 17 or so.
Some high heels so look unbelievably uncomfortable and some women look hindered by what heels they wear. Some shoes also look hideous and yet they appear to be hugely popular.
I never felt it was something imposed on by men.

You can run fast in bare feet on a typical tarmacked surface , as you’d find in most cities?

who on earth cannot?

Not saying you would want to, but if you must....

From about the 17th Century, upper class men and women of breeding used to encumber themselves with bizarre fashion items as a sign of their wealth and status, to signal that they were not ‘trade.’

That makes sense. So many fashions for women have been restricting. Not just corsets, but crinolines, high, powdered wigs, hobble skirts, the Veronica Lake hairstyle (cause of accidental injuries in factories), hobble skirts, tight pencil skirts...

I’m very short and I hate the idea that I ought to wear heels in order to look “better” or even “normal”.

Of course, it's victim-blaming and no different to the mini skirt accusations from years ago. Had she not worn this. Had she not done that. If she cared about how she is perceived she wouldn't have done/worn whatever. And oddly enough, the victim-blaming always came with crap like it's because I care.

You are saying had both these women decided to wear flats, they would be alive today. For all any of us know, they could have worn fashionable sensible flat shoes and still faced the same fate. And where is the ire towards those designers?

And it's rather insensitive to the families and friends who will still be grieving to read that had they worn different shoes, they would still be alive.

Running barefoot. - Zola Budd from the top of my head. She's not alone.

You can run fast in bare feet on a typical tarmacked surface , as you’d find in most cities? In the Rain? Or on gravel/stones/blaze? Ok. You must have amazingly tough feet

If you’re running away from danger adrenaline means you don’t feel pain.

I remember seeing a dad running barefoot carrying his bleeding child from the beach. As anyone else would. No one is wearing trainers 24/7 just in case, and yes, you can run barefeet on pavements