Monday, January 30, 2012

High Heels = A Hazard To Your Health

I never understood why women torture themselves by wearing high-heeled shoes. Granted, there is an added element of height, but the pain and suffering that tend to go along with such confining, unnatural footwear doesn't make it worth it from my somewhat rational, male perspective.

I often brought up the topic on a date, and most girls seemed to not mind wearing them, despite the blisters, foot pain and other annoyances.

Well, add to that list of concerns heart disease. Check of this report by ABC News, which features, oddly enough, a male reporter trying out high-heels.

If these things are indeed dangerous - aside from the risk of tripping, heels breaking, falling, and now chronic inflammation/heart disease - why should anyone seriously want to keep wearing them?

Has anyone's high-heeled shoes caused any tripping/needing to be caught awkwardness on dates?

For those interested in further gory details of what high heels do to you, and how you can kick the habit, check out this article here.

14 comments:

  1. On a date not with my future husband- my heels kept getting caught in the grates of Manhattan gutters in the sidewalks. One time, it got so stuck, I just kept walking, and popped right out of my shoe. Laughed, went back, and continued on.

    After I was engaged to my husband, same thing happened in Brooklyn just by accident- and we had a good time laughing about how women will do anything for beauty. (High heels make you look taller, stand up straighter, accentuate legs, and frankly, are awesome.)

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  2. I don't wear heels, since I don't need height. But men like heels, I thought - to claim that men are rational when it comes to female wardrobe, don't make me laugh. YOU may be . . .

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  3. I have a friend who loves wearing them
    It has nothing to do with the guy. Me I prefer flats

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  4. I love heels. If someone is uncomfortable in heels its because they are not used to them, do know how to walk in them, and/or they are on them for too long. In places outside of the US it is normal to wear heels on a regular basis (i.e. Europe, South America).

    Being that I am tall, in comparison to the average Jewish guy, I don't wear heels that often (sadly). But I do think there is something regal, nice, and flattering about them. But if you wear heels, you have to wear them with confidence--if you are tripping over yourself, you are basically outdoing the positive that comes with heels.

    And I agree with PL: men might be rational about many things...the way they relate to/perceive women, in my humble opinion, is not one of them....

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  5. Heels make your legs look great. They do. As to comfort, they suck. Solution? Marry a guy who is only slightly taller than you. Then you can't wear heels, in fact you are not allowed to cuz the guy has to feel taller.

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  6. Princess Lea and ZP - I was not making a suggestion that men are "rational" when it comes to women's dress, and I agree guys can be quite irrational in their desire for alluring and provocative attire.

    However, I don't think guys nowadays would wholeheartedly profess supporting whale-bone corsets or Chinese foot-binding, which may make a woman appear attractive, actually create serious health risks for the wearers.

    As an aside, within the realm of appropriate tzniyus discussion, where observant women typically wear skirts/dresses that don't reveal much of their legs at any rate, are y'all suggesting that you want guys to check out your lower calves/ankles? Do guys really find staring at your feet such an attractive thing to do?

    Plus, pay close attention in the video for the other, rather unattractive side effect from years' worth of high heel wearing: rather gross varicose veins! All that chronic inflammation ends up costing a woman.

    I can't claim to be an atypical guy when it comes to attractive clothing that my wife wears, but anything that causes pain or suffering is not worth it in my view.

    I have vocally protested against a few pairs of ASoG's shoes that have left her with blisters or portions of skin rubbed raw and bleeding - shoes which were worn for the sake of appearance. From an aesthetic perspective, I'd much rather prefer her feet/ankles to be healthy and beautiful, rather than misformed, scarred, vein-y and achey.

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    Replies
    1. "As an aside, within the realm of appropriate tzniyus discussion, where observant women typically wear skirts/dresses that don't reveal much of their legs at any rate, are y'all suggesting that you want guys to check out your lower calves/ankles? Do guys really find staring at your feet such an attractive thing to do?"

      Two comments on this paragraph:

      1. "where observant women typically wear skirts/dresses that don't reveal much of their legs at any rate" --really? Because I have seen a trend, even within the more to the right of YU for skirts and dresses to get shorter and still be considered appropriate/ztnius.

      2. "are y'all suggesting that you want guys to check out your lower calves/ankles?" I do not believe I insinuated anything close to that. Heels do make you walk and feel different. There is a difference between looking attractive and attracting. I agree that some outfits/heels can be more attracting than attractive. But that is obviously not what I was talking about.

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    2. As ZP says, heels affect posture and such. One carries themselves differently in heels than in flats.

      Also keep in mind that what men find desirable changes with the years/culture. Whalebone corsets that made women look misshapenly hourglass-like would be disturbing today, whereas it was what men were into back then.

      Treatment for varicose veins is easy (scalerotherapy) and non-risk. One can get 'em without heels.

      Tznius does not mean attire. It means behavior.

      Men look at women; that's what they do. And a man better be checking out the girl he plans to marry. A girl is supposed to dress attractively - that's what my father always says - if she intends to get and keep a spouse.

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    3. That section was more in response to Altie, who said "Heels make your legs look great."

      I wouldn't merely define "legs" to below the knee. In secular culture, I would think it applies to skirts that are far shorter than what we deem acceptable.

      I'm not sure how short you are referring to, but I never went out with any girls who wore skirts that were so short...

      Can I get your take on the health-benefit-harm elements of my response?

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    4. How short? It is all relative. I think short is above the knee, sitting down and showing the knee etc. Perhaps you haven't noticed. Ask your wife, I'm sure she knows what I'm referring to.

      I don't really think that it is harmful to wear heels. Like I said, if someone is in great pain, they just do not know how to wear them or walk in them, etc. Obviously, wearing heels for a very long time is going to be uncomfortable. But truth be told, some are more comfortable than others. For example wedges still give you the height etc but they are much more comfortable.

      @PL: Tznius is a mix of attire and behavior. And you are right, women are supposed to dress attractively and actually Rammbam (if I'm not mistaken) says that a man must look at his wife before he marries her.

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  7. Princess Lea - people have done lots of things to make themselves attractive, but back in the day, no one knew scientifically/medically how certain practices can be harmful. Now that we know, are we prepared to say that health matters more than superficial attractiveness? That's my point.

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  8. Princess Lea - people have done lots of things to make themselves attractive, but back in the day, no one knew scientifically/medically how certain practices can be harmful. Now that we know, are we prepared to say that health matters more than superficial attractiveness? That's my point.

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  9. Well, consider. Are these health concerns regarding full-time wear of high-heels, or occasional as well? If a female wears heels on Shabbos, dates, and simchas, would that be enough to cause damaging inflammation?

    There are plenty of things that humans as a whole do despite the medical recommendations not to. Like takeout, which is full of such mystery ingredients one's system freezes in terror. People go around saying that french fries are bad because of the potato carbs; um, no, it is deep-fried in fat and salted to oblivion.

    Chinese foot binding is not equivalent; I think any Chinese woman would be insulted that high heels and the torture of little girls is somehow comparable.

    Even corsets were known to slice women's organs in half, causing death. Again, not comparable.

    Wearing heels every once in a while doesn't sound like a grand self-destructive plan to destroy one's health and well-being.

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