Last week, in an attempt to complete something like "fall cleaning" I went through my closet. Throwing away everything I hadn't worn or had worn out was a cleansing experience, until I got to my shoes. I realized that I own a ridiculous number of shoes, most of which I had barely worn. I have a closet half full of sky high stilettos and pumps that I buy on impulse when I am feeling blue, grungy, or unattractive. In the store I tell myself they are "so comfortable!" they "make my legs look great" and "I will absolutely wear them a hundred times..it's an investment". Lies. The reality of my life is that I wear stilettos probably three times a year, usually cursing them to hell the entire time. So why do I buy them? And why do women in our culture feel like they need to wear heels to be confident, polished and sexy?
In mass media men and women are constantly being told that high heels are sexy and desirable. Women and girls pride themselves of being able to walk in them, but why should it be difficult in the first place?! They are SHOES. Reflecting on the concept of high heels brings me back to Susan Bordo's article, The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity. In many ways, high heels embody and perpetuate the concept of a cultural feminine ideal. The praxis of wearing stilettos operates in a way that is similar to Susan Bordo's explanation of hysteria, anorexia, and bulimia. High heels too, work as a metaphor and text for culture, creating "docile" bodies. They emphasis the traits that are supposed to be traditionally feminine such as passivity, taking up minimal space, and performing for the male gaze. They create a body for a woman that is unsteady, held up on a pedestal and in need of balance and protection. This is demonstrated in Hollywood when the woman takes a man's arm for balance and protection as she descends stairways, hits uneven pavement, or climbs from a vehicle. She is after all, helpless and delicate. High heels take the active possibilities of the body and make them passive, eliminating and restricting movements. They create a body for the woman that elongates the leg, elevates the butt and forces them to sway their hips as they walk. Weather it is intentional, subconscious, or accidental, by wearing high heels women are creating a body that is presenting to the male gaze.
High heels create for women a docile body, that perpetuates the traditional cultural ideal of femininity. They may be pretty, fun to look at, and give you a retail therapy ego boost, but it is important to understand culture and how it is working when we choose to put on those sky high death traps. Nevertheless...I didn't have the heart to toss those red patent leather pumps... alas, Cest la Vie.
I laughed as i saw the picture you posted because it really does embody the docile body. Not too long ago i had my ACL reconstruction and the first thing i could remember thinking after my surgery was that i needed to go shoe shopping to buy flat shoes. I didn't realize that my over 80% of my shoes were high heels. I remember going to the store and thinking how unattractive the flat shoes were and how badly i wanted to buy high heels despite my inability to wear them. I now know that i was caught up with the rest of society and infatuated with the idea of what the high heel stood for. High heels are sexy and make women feel sexy. I don't necessarily think all high heels are uncomfortable but it is very funny to see women wear the most ridiculously high pairs and wobble and look silly trying to walk in them despite what they are trying to portray. It is also funny how women still choose to wear them despite harmful effects they have on the body. Even though i have read what wearing high heels can do to one's body, i know i will continue to wear them. Damn you society for making high heels so sexy.
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