Lilly’s Blog: Are High Heels Empowering or Crippling Women?
My mom always says that one of the things she loves about women is that they can transition effortlessly between being concerned with fashion and being determined to save the world. There is something wonderful about the way powerful women can be unabashedly interested in looking fashionable. But how do we reconcile the irony of enlightened, empowered women who are reduced to hobbling by high heels?
I recently had the privilege of attending the awards ceremony of a preeminent women’s rights organization. The event was fairly formal and the theater was filled with very important, very smart women….all in very high heels. I for one was wearing three-inch heels, not a good choice.
As it became increasingly painful to get up for the numerous standing ovations of the award winners, I was saddened by the stupidity of the situation. Here I was, surrounded by women dedicated to improving the lives of others, and I was crippled by my own design. After the awards ceremony, at the reception, it was absolutely impossible to find a chair. Every single chair was occupied by a woman nursing her pinched, blistered and aching feet.
I recognize that there are different sides to people; there is certainly a part of me that aspires to look good and a part of me that wants to be comfortable. Of course women should be able to dress in a way that makes them feel beautiful. I look at pictures of celebrities wearing killer heels and can’t deny that they look gorgeous. It just concerns me that the shoes that are considered fashionable restrict movement, curtail and impinge upon our physical comfort.
I want to write off wearing heels as foolish vanity. But, the more I think about it, the more I understand why the women at this event wore high heels. I wore heels even though I knew they would hurt like the dickens. Why did I do that? I guess it was a combination of knowing that heels are expected of women on fancy occasions and wanting to wear something special and grown-up.
Okay, so basically I’m a sucker for implied peer pressure. Awesome. Were the other women wearing high heels for the same reason? My friend Fiona, who like me struggled to keep her shoes on, explained that, as a petite young woman, she wears heels to level the playing field.
So perhaps an empowered, high-heeled woman isn’t a contradiction. Maybe an extra few inches can help a vertically challenged woman feel confident and be taken seriously.
I’ve got of admit it, wearing heels does make me feel powerful. A boost to my five feet, nine inches is sure to get me noticed and being at (at least!) eye level with men is sort of thrilling. I totally get the appeal of wearing high heels…..until I lose feeling in my toes. Then I’m back to being torn. What do you think? How do we make sense of the fact that high heels seem to be both crippling and empowering?
Lilly is a high school senior and guest blogger for RachelSimmons.com. Read more about her here.
Correction: As for interviews or anyone else you need to “impress”: people WHO can’t be impressed by a woman walking on her full foot they aren’t worth your time.
Women need to walk on their full feet and accept no less…there are plenty of shoes that allow this.
And women need to learn the true meaning of empowerment. Until then we will never truly be taken seriously. Sad but true. Sorry for the double post but I had to add that.
What I don’t understand is why men can be empowered and not have to wear painful shoes. How is standing on your tippytoes all day empowering? Standing on your full foot! Now THAT is empowering! A true empowered woman doesn’t need heels or to be in pain or to hurt herself. Empowerment is about being confident in your own skin and being yourself…it’s not about pain. If men don’t have to wear high heels to be empowered why should we? Are we lesser? I didn’t think so. And there are plenty of shoes (like strappy sandals) that can make you look very good. Seriously! I think women are taken more seriously when they walk on their full feet not on these torture devices called high heels. I don’t think they look good at all…to me they look deformed and painful and not fun at all. I like to move and be active and unrestricted. If women really want to be taken seriously they should start walking on their full feet and stop putting all these silly restrictions on themselves. As for interviews or anyone else you need to “impress”: people can’t be impressed by a woman walking on her full foot they aren’t worth your time. And one more thing think of this: high heels = less walking = less moving around = more weight issues. People weren’t meant to walk this way. It’s unnatural. I wish people would just STOP IT.
I love high heels. Regardless of what people say about vanity, I love the way I feel empowered when I wear them. Sure, I may have to visit the pediatrist with frequency as I get older, but as an attorney, I don’t feel ready for the day until I put on my three inch pumps.
Interesting post from your point of view on the issue. As a male I don’t deal with the same kinds of issues women do first hand regarding the dichotomy of being comfortable and wearing high heels to feel empowered. But I do however run an online store which sells high heel platform shoes. We primarily cater to women who need to wear these shoes for what they’re doing. Whether they’re a fitness model, exotic dancer or pole dancer; they need to wear 5″ or higher heels for work.
Unfortunately if they want to keep competing, or working in their industries, really high heels are a must. These women don’t choose between being comfortable and feeling empowered. They simply choose what looks best and feels the best after hours. After speaking to several customers it became apparent that when deciding which pair of shoes to buy they care a lot about comfort and are willing to pay for a better quality product which won’t be killing them at the end of the day.
-N
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Nice blog! I think this empower women to be confident. That women can be theirselves oven without wearing heels.
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When I worked as a litigator (in my 20s and 30s) I rarely wore heels because trying to walk down the street or up the steps of a courthouse holding a litigation bag wearing heels was difficult if not impossible, and it looked ridiculous. My friends who are doctors mostly wore/wear clogs in the OR or when rounding on patients. I guess my issue is that while heels may look good, it’s difficult if not impossible to do anything other than “look good” in them. I’m trying to raise my girls to do rather than to be looked at but I feel like I’m swimming upstream against a tide of media and marketing images of women and girls whose job is to stand around and look good. I like watching the stars on the red carpet as much as the next person but I’m usually offering a running commentary to my kids of “they look good” but you can’t climb Mt. Everest (or run a marathon or win a downhill race or build a house in Haiti, etc.) wearing heels. I know some of it is reaching them because when my mother (who, at 75, still loves to wear high heels to parties) took my older daughter to the Manolo Blahnik sale recently, my daughter looked at all the 3 inch heels and pronounced “there is not one pair of shoes that I would wear in this store because you can’t run in any of them!”
That’s a really great point, high heels certainly limit the things you can physically do.
I hate high heels! I fought and won the battle with my mother to wear a simple pair of white flats for my wedding 28 years ago. I remember wearing heels when I was in my sister’s wedding, and being miserable during the reception. I kicked them off and danced in bare feet. I was not going to go through that for my own wedding.
When I got laid off in 1992, my career counselor told me to wear heels to my interviews. I did, but I usually changed shoes right after. I finally got part time work as a computer trainer. For the first month I wore heels, and then couldn’t take the pain in my feet and back, and switched to flats. I never felt that I was less commanding in front of a class in flat shoes.
I currently teach chess to children, and wear comfortable shoes. They are not stylish, but are functional. I always dread going to functions where I have to dress up, because I can’t find any stylish shoes, heeled or flat that don’t leave my feet aching. I cringed when I looked at the pictures of myself at my nephew’s black tie wedding. My dress looked beautiful, but my shoes looked like hell. Next time I’m wearing a long dress to hide the ugly shoes.
BTW I’m 5′ 4″ and could care less whether or not I look 3 inches taller.
Perhaps because I am almost 65 and remember my youthful strident feminist days, I think wearing high heels is the equivalent of voluntary foot binding. I can’t imagine men being vain enough to do it. I don’t understand it at all, except as a reflection of many women’s inability to free themselves from the thrall of fashion.
If you want to be noticed, wear a red dress. If you want to be taken seriously, pay far more attention to what is coming out of your mouth than what you are wearing on your feet.
I am not almost 65 and I can’t stand wearing high heels. I have noticed that as I’ve gotten older, I am less and less tolerant of painful footwear. Sometimes I even pack my clogs to slip into right after I make a speech! I just don’t think it’s worth it at the end of the day.
Thank you for pointing out that there are painless ways to use fashion to feel confident and noticeable!