Congratulations to Hadley Freeman in the Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/11/fashion-high-heels
She tells us some excellent home truths about the trend for women to buy ever higher heels.
“…high heels are the sartorial equivalent of dieting: someone, somewhere decided that they improve a women’s look and every year the bar gets set higher..”
“When it comes to footwear, women seem to be voluntarily choosing to be returing to the days of footbinding, crippling themselves ..”
Hadley asks in so many words, why in these days when glass ceilings are being shattered do women still seek to mangle their bodies in the name of fashion, causing endless medical problems?
I am as bemused as Ms Freeman. I am also angry. Four, four and a half, five inch heels are ridiculous. Women cannot function to their full capacity if they are not as mobile as men. Sad though it is, we do not seem to be able to break out of the ancient mindset that what we have is not good enough. We always want to be thinner, taller, have better hair, etc.
Women limit themselves. This is very sad, and even sadder as it is an affliction which men do not share. Despite the increase in male grooming, putting on a moisturiser or even dyeing your hair is in no way equivalent to heels which prevent you walking properly or starvation diets which impair mental performance.
Sisters, we must stop doing this. We are all OK. I’d like to have your comments.
How utterly patronising. Women are perfectly capable of making their own decisions as to footwear. They certainly don’t need to be spoken for by public figures desperate to justify their phoney baloney jobs.
I know you’re a politician, but try to get your head round these concepts: people are individuals. Individuals exercise choices. Not all of these choices might necessarily correspond with your own sensibilities.
Oh, and men don’t limit themselves? Really? So no man on the planet self-adjusts his appearance/behaviour/expression in a limiting fashion in order to fit in or please? I think you need to open your eyes and ears and actually try observing the world around you: it may help you to develop a more sophisticated and sympathetic outlook.
P.S. ‘Hobson’s Choice’ isn’t actually a documentary.