Do high heels empower or oppress women?

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Hey Ladies!

Saw this story on MSNBC and wanted to share it with you! What are your thoughts? Check it out:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32970817/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty/

Comments

AmandaF said…
Ok, I have to admit - I have a shoe thing. Literally, I spend big bucks on heals and I love them. I have a shoe closet. That being said...

I think the issue at hand is not the shoes themselves. They are merely things. The fact that women need a "leg up" to be seen as powerful or need to wear them to feel sexy is the real problem. I can't find flat, professional dress shoes, so heals are almost required. If you are walking a lot at work, this can cause all sorts of painful problems.

When you think about it, the reason for this can be taken a few ways. The media, which sets standards of beauty, tells women to wear heals for the reasons above. So women wouldn't buy flats, so therefore there is no market. Also, men want women to be sexy, so again, no designers saying that flats are stylish. For a more radical take on it, one could argue that heals are oppressive because they limit a woman's movement. By limiting our movement (think feet-binding in China), it helps to keep women out of powerful positions, keep us vulnerable, and ultimately simply sexual objects.
September 24, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Ani Reina said…
Hmm, heels are heels. They are an accessory. If we start analyzing this are we going to analyze handbags: Bohos are a No, they portray woman as disorganized. Just kidding. I think the bigger issue is that women are "expected" to look sexy and as the woman said this would give them an advantage. This is the troublesome part that being sexy is whats actually giving you the boost, you could replace this article with Wonderbras, pencil skirts, anything "sexy". Which is what this article should have addressed. Why are women forced to be sexy?
September 25, 2009 at 4:02 PM
mhendrix said…
Amanda- I admit too that I LOVE shoes, when I was in high school the higher and pointer the better(thanks to Jessica Simpson). I agree with you that "the issue at hand is not the shoes themselves. They are merely things. The fact that women need a "leg up" to be seen as powerful or need to wear them to feel sexy is the real problem." We can't let objects and things define us, rather we need to define them!

Ani- Why are women forced to be sexy? Why is it that beautiful girls sell everything because that is what grabs male’s attention? I actually had a friend tell me this week how her friend hired her for a few hours to sit at a desk and look like a receptionist for a business meeting he had just so he had a beautiful girl...sad! If a male is doing the hiring process do you think he is more likely to hire a more qualified woman or a beautiful woman?
September 26, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Natasha said…
I love shoes too, but AmandaF is right. The issue with high heels is not the shoe but the power women feel when the wear high heels and the false need the shoes create. I will openly admit that I feel this sense of power and need when I wear heels, but switching to flats while at work has had a big impact on my feet.
September 27, 2009 at 2:53 PM
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