HIGH HEELS, A SYMBOL OF FEMININITY?

 

Most commonly, people consider high heels as a symbol of femininity but it conveys a deep meaning than what we know. To begin with, I would like to let you know that high heels was originally considered to be men’s apparel. I think that now you are curious to know the origin of high heels. 

High heels were first worn in 15^th century by Persian soldiers in order to secure their feet in stirrups. Then, the migrants of Persia brought them to Europe and male aristocrats wore them with the intention of appearing taller and formidable. 

Catherine de Medici was the first woman to wear high heeled shoes and that was in the 16^th century. She wore those as she wanted to appear tall at her wedding. She was 150 cm tall when she wore high- heeled shoes. Until she wore them, high –heeled shoes were men’s apparel.

Louis XIV of France wore high heeled court shoes to appear more powerful and domineering. In the portraits of the king, the shoes were dyed red; expensive pigment to show superior social status. Even, he banned the entering of people to the court without red-soled shoes. Somehow, right to wear high heels was extended to the general population. Pin posters of 1940 s and 1950 s presented that high heels as a symbol of glamour and femininity. Meanwhile,trend came to Hollywood and actresses wore them in films. So, everyday women replicate the look at their homes. With the demand, high heels reached the stores. Today,  they are very common and there are various types of high heels especially wear by women.

High heels, a symbol of femininity,glamour,sexuality and power?

Klages (2006) in her book called, ‘Literary Theory’ stated as follows,

“You might think here about high heels as a signifier: generally, a foot in a high-heeled shoe signifies that there’s a vagina and breasts attached to the wearer, because in our culture high heels are a signifier of femaleness and femininity. But anyone can wear high heels – and will be seen as ‘feminine’ because of it”.

High heels can be worn by any person, may be a woman or  a man. But as soon as you see high heels, you think that always a woman should wear them. Society expects woman to wear high heels. For example, most of the companies make high heels compulsory as the dress code for women. But why? I think it’s a male concept of beauty. Women are motivated to wear them as there is a norm that women in high heels are more attractive and high heels become a representative of sexuality. It is a simple thing in a world with people who judge a person by outward appearance and also there is an opinion that high heels were created to slow down women as most of the designers are males.“Christian Louboutin said that heels slow a woman down, giving the man  more time to look at her”. If you search  Google for business women, you can see that most of them wear high heels. For men, they can walk freely without any difficulties. Even it costs so much that high heels are costly than flat shoes and also most of the women take taxis as it is difficult to walk or use public transport wearing high heels, wasting money. I think clothing should not be restricted to one gender, making it a signifier. There is a Bollywood hit; a song “high heels te nachche” and the actor, Arjun Kapoor dance wearing high heels. I saw at the comment section somebody commented, “It must’ve been so hard for Arjun wearing the high heels” So, if it is hard to wear by men why not by women. Anyone can wear anything if they really like it not because someone forces to wear. https://youtube.com/watch?v=bQtT-Tv_tZ4&feature=share  Here’s link you can watch that three boys dances really beautiful wearing high heels in Britain’s got talent show. They wear them as they love to wear high heels without thinking what people will think of them.

On the other hand, there are some women who like to wear them.  Some women are passionate about wearing them. It’s totally okay that it’s their own preference. They think high heels give more power to them. They feel like professional and more independent.  You can see the women on magazine covers, red carpet, courtrooms, award shows wear high heels. Indeed they add the glamour and many feminists like to wear them. No one should judge anyone through their outward appearance. It’s not the dresses or shoes that decides the character or pave the way for exploits, rapes, oppresses women but the insane minds of people.

At present, many women reduce the use of high heels as they cause health issues. Long term use of high heels can affect the knees, hips, lower back and Achilles tendon because high heels change the users walking patter. Many women suffer due to pain in hips and lower back. The only way to solve the problem is reducing the use but how can women reduce it if it’s mandatory to wear them for workplace and society expect it from women? Don't think what people will think of you.If you really love and feel comfortable with flat shoes, wear them and if you love to wear high heels if you think it adds glamour, wear high heels but not because society forces to do so. 

what do you think of high heels? Leave a comment sharing your ideas.