So this weekend, as I was preparing to go out at night, getting dressed I battled with the question of whether or not I should wear high heels. I do not particularly love wearings heels because they hurt my feet, give me blisters, and when I wake up the next morning I normally have very uncomfortable knee pains from walking in them. But even though they hurt me, I still contemplate wearing them because I feel, along with millions of women in my same mindset, that they make me taller which makes my legs look longer, which boosts my confidence and overall makes me more appealing to men. But I was looking online today and I came across a news article from a fashion website that stated that a recent study shows that men actually do not notice the difference if women are wearing heels or flats. So women go through the pain for nothing. Or do they?
I think that if women knew that little statistic, that they would still spend the money and endure the pain to wear heels anyway. I know I will. And that is because when women wear heels, in their minds it gives them a confidence and boost in their self-esteem because they look taller and leaner so they think it adds to their sex appeal. And sex appeal can have a large connection to power. But wearing heels is a gender defined body practice, because you don't normally see men walking around in heels or elevator shoes to give them a boost. So if short men have to deal with their height, why can't women? It is because wearing heels for women is an agency over their bodies. When a woman can wear a pair of 5-inch heels all night, and endure the pain that comes along with them, it gives them power, in a way that is for self-image. Because if a study shows that men do not even notice the heels anyway, it becomes apparent that the heels are for the women to be able to look in the mirror and feel confident about their sex appeal for themselves, and not for others.
First of all, I really like the picture you found for your blog post.
ReplyDeleteI will tell you right now that I initially don't notice if a girl is wearing high heels. I do if it is a close friend of mine in which case I notice they are taller. But I've always thought that it was a painful practice, but it seems like it is ingrained in the American perspective of beauty and power.
I think the power trip associated with heels makes sense though, because height does seem to represent authority or control, as we see with students and professors or teachers. Also the height difference is a representation of power in cinema as the Camera angle usually portrays how we are supposed to interpret a characters importance in a movie.