Fashion Has Deformed Women's Feet

[Comenext]

Not sure where to put this thread.
I joined a Yoga class recently and we all do it barefoot.
I can't help noticing how crooked and deformed the other women's feet look. Really shameful how pointed shoes have squashed their big toes out of line. There is also a tendency to have a big toe joint that looks swollen and puffy.
Thank goodness I never wore high fashion pointy high heeled shoes.
There is a lot to be said for trainers! (Just joking. I know trainers can have their downside too)
It makes me angry that none of the men in the yoga class have these ugly feet. Reminiscent of the ancient foot-binding of women.

It's really hard to find shoes that don't squash my toes in the women's section, even flats, even trainers have that pointy toe box shape. Some men's shoes are also pointy, particularly dressier ones - but at least not wanting your toes squashed is seen as a normal fashion option.

OP I agree although it is not just about high heeled shoes. It is about women's styles that squash toes and feet into unnatural shapes. My feet still look like a child's, just bigger.

It’s definitely a Feminist issue! And not ‘just’ because we wear shoes that deform our feet. Those shoes deform your whole body!

The other important issue is pregnancy - and the hormones involved I loosening up your whole body to give birth. They have changed my foot shape in all directions (nearly two sizes bigger due to twins and double the hormones). They are inherently something men never have to deal with.

God knows what you'd think of my feet, OP. They are fucking horrible thanks to having long, graceful big toes and then the rest of the toes are really short. Like two arrows on the ends of my legs! Due to unfortunate genetics. Good job the rest of me is perfect

Sorry the point I’m trying to make is that women are inherently more prone to reforming their feet due to hormones - men don’t have periods in their lives when their bodies are more ‘plastic ‘ and malleable to change as women do - even if they wore high heels their feet wouldn’t react the same. (Draws massive conclusion) now I want to find out if that’s actually the case!

Some men's shoes are also pointy

Yes, but they're also really long, so the tapering starts after the part that accommodates the widest section of the foot. Very different from the design of the average woman's dress shoe.

IMO those pointy men's shoes look bloody ridiculous, unless the man in question is trying to pass as a medieval jester.

My poor daughter has very wide rectangular feet & cant fit her feet into most girls shoes. The rounded toes end at really small sizes so school shoe fitting is a nightmare. I don’t understand why shoes need to be so pointed for women.

My osteopath told me that it’s now thought to be a myth that high heels cause bunions, the cause is now thought to be genetic.

Yes, but they're also really long, so the tapering starts after the part that accommodates the widest section of the foot. Very different from the design of the average woman's dress shoe.
Even discounting weird jester styles, some mens' styles are too narrow at the toes for me. Almost all women's ones are. I may have unusually wide toes, compounded by years of effort to find wide toes shoes letting my toes spread further.

Who has prettier feet, really. This is the attitude that mskes women feel pressurised into looking a certain way. You are not helping OP.

Here's an example of a shoe designed to fit a natural, healthy foot shape. Sadly, you won't find shoes designed like this in high street shops; you have to buy them online from businesses catering to this special niche market of customers who want comfortable shoes. This is not just a women's issue, but it does seem that a lot of fashionable "feminine" clothes and shoes might have been deliberately designed to to harm women and to restrict our ability to move.

I love clothes and I enjoy fashion. I think there's a discussion to be had around heels although I'm doubtful whether we'll ever manage to have it on here as there are always posters who cannot seem to separate a dislike of fashion from disdain for women who do enjoy it. And then they wonder why other posters get defensive - which of course they do.

Anyway this thread has probably gone better than most but the issues are surely are around comfort and ease of movement not perceived un/attractiveness? I decided when I was 19 that I would never again wear shoes I couldn't run away in. It's not a lesson I would want other young women to have to learn but this is what it boils down to for me.

These also have a much thicker pad on the sole as protection.

Our feet can be like that. I could run barefoot on gravel when I was 18. Too many years of working in an office means it's long since that was an option.

A phrase upthread caught my attention
It's peacocking, pure and simple. You are always going to get people who are trying to stand out. Blame patriarchy if you want, but it also comes down massively to human nature. Men also peacock in various ways in order to compete, it just translates differently.

'Peacock' isn't a very good analogy though. The peacock's tail comes at a high cost to his mobility. Now think about fashion trends throughout history (both high fashion and more everyday wear). How many examples are there of fashions which impede women's physical abilities? How many men's fashions impede them to the same extent (if at all)? We're fortunate that nowadays we have a lot more options available, certainly for regular wear, but there's still a disparity.

When I was in high school in the 70's I worked in a home for the elderly, and many of the women there had toes that were all squashed on top of each other, not just the big toe pointing inward. I'd never been very interested in fashion, but that made me glad I wasn't. I'm surprised here to see that bunions are common without constricting shoes, but there's no doubt in my mind that those flattened toes I saw were the result of shoes. I have wide feet, so I usually buy shoes from the men's section, and have to shop around for the extra wide ones. But even so, my pinky toes are a bit compressed so that the nails are super thick and split sometimes.
I remember reading somewhere, decades ago, something a man had written about how the aesthetic of high heels and foot binding were similar because they forced (I can't remember exactly what they forced, a certain posture or way of carrying the body, I was too pissed off when I got to the 'force' bit....)

Ridiculous thread

**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.

Posts like this drive me mad with their ignorance. Women have agency, yes and also a right to wear whatever they like without being commented on or judged by women who prefer flats. My sister suffers from hypermobility and heels are actually far more comfortable for her yet she has to put up with moronic comments all the time. Please open your minds those who think like the above

@Pollypocket89

Couldn't agree more.
When buying shoes (even trainers) I need to have a chunky sole, or platform.
I cannot walk in completely flat shoes; I find they aggravate my back and calves too much.

Whilst I can no longer walk around in the sky scrapers I'd wear whilst younger, I find shoes with anything up to a 4 inch heel the most comfortable for me.
Completely flat is a no.

Brokenness I love those shoes - do you have a link?

Agree that it's not just about pointy shoes. Feet need space to spread, if you can't stretch your toes out sideways then your shoes are too tight. Trainers are often to narrow, it's not just work shoes. As has been previously posted feet should be wedge shape, it's pretty hard finding women's shoes that allow that.

I cannot walk in completely flat shoes; I find they aggravate my back and calves too much.

That is because wearing heels misaligns your body and shortens your calf muscles.

Brokenness those shoes are interesting, because I've never seen any shoes like that, men's or women's, so who exactly designed shoes to constrict our feet so much?
Probably women's more than men's, but I've never seen men's shoes like that either.

the aesthetic of high heels and foot binding were similar

I read somewhere (I think it was in 'Wild Swans') that women walking on bound feet were considered to resemble willows swaying delicately in the breeze, which was considered beautiful at the time. 'Wild Swans' also includes graphic descriptions of the process of foot binding, and what the feet were like when unwrapped, which was horrific.

I decided when I was 19 that I would never again wear shoes I couldn't run away in.

It isn’t just running away though. I ditched mine eventually because I just got so sick of the restriction of not being able to move around quickly and comfortably.

As an aside, I much prefer the phrase “towering heels” that’s being used in this thread to the usual “tottering”. I’ve always hated the misogyny implicit in that.

Even if what you're saying is true, comparing a bunion from wearing an expensive shoe to foot binding is obnoxious and ignorant

I have given up wearing heels as too uncomfortable. I have hobbit feet, large, very wide and hairy toes! I find men’s shoes are a more comfortable fit now. I go for comfort not style.