What is all this buzz about high heels? We live in the year 2023! Women have the right to vote in Germany since 1919, since 1976 they have been allowed to keep their last name when they marry and since 1958 they can have their own bank account and no longer need their husband's permission if they want to work. Without a doubt, a lot has happened for women and yet women today are still forcing themselves!!! voluntarily into vertiginous high heels.
"The typical high heel, that we find sexy on a woman, of course, also makes her immobile," explains fashion journalist Fabian Hart (Quiio Magazine). "Actually, woman can no longer run at all and they are limited in their mobility compared to a man."
With high heels the legs seem longer, the posture changes, the hips swing, woman is pushed into a hollow back, bust and buttocks pushed out. No wonder most men find high heels sexy.
And what do we women do? We adapt to these male fantasies. First, why do we allow "sexiness" to be almost always defined by wearing high heels? Second, why do we serve this stereotype even though it has proven to kill our feet in the long run.
The German writer, caberettist and anchor Elke Heidenreich says: "High heels are a crime against the foot and completely pointless. You just have to look at the foot: Does it want to be stretched like that? No!"
The facts:
High heels shift our body weight from the whole foot to the front foot. The big toe then mainly carries our body weight, while the small toes are unnaturally squeezed together in the shoe. Walking on high heels places a high static load. In our feet, 30 bones, over 200 tendons and more than 60 muscles have to work together unhindered. Restrictions to do so can lead to unhealthy postures and deformities in the forefoot, such as splayfoot, hallux valgus, or even fatigue fractures in the metatarsal. And it goes on, because our feet are the basis of our body framework. Troubled feet can also cause problems with knees, hips and back.
But no one just agonizes. Right? So what benefit do women get from wearing high heels...? I did a little research...here's the result:
In fact, by wearing high heels, women are unconsciously serving an evolutionary program. By presenting their advantages to the man (we remember hollow back, bosom, buttocks), they draw attention to themselves in competition and increase their chances to get a partner. A bit comparable with courtship from the animal kingdom.
I must admit high heels really make a beautiful leg. Nevertheless, for me this form of courtship is excluded not only for emancipatory reasons, but mainly because of the pain they cause. It is just as impossible for me to float elegantly across the parquet in high heels, as it is to do a ballet split. My hallux rigidus, arthrosis in the toe root joint, clearly says "No way" to this. But even without existing health restrictions, I wonder how some women manage to walk on their toes seemingly painless and effortless all day long? Maybe a gene mutation? In any case, I do not belong to this special species.
But I don't want to point the finger at high heel women at all. Sometimes, when my job as a model calls for it, I am one of them myself. Privately, I never wear high heels for the reasons mentioned above and I also do fashion shows only when there are flat slippers, but I am inconsequent when it comes to photo shoots. When the job demands it, I also squeeze my feet into stilletos for the photo...
Unfortunately, money also corrupts. I'm probably no exception, so I'll have to think hard about myself again on this point. But maybe my fickleness is also due to the fact that I do not find it life-decisive isomeone wears high heels. After all, a woman does no harm with them, f except to herself.y for that.
Unfortunately, money also corrupts. I'm probably no exception, so I'll have to think hard about myself again on this point. But maybe my fickleness is also due to the fact that I do not find it life-decisive if a woman wears high heels. After all, a woman does no harm anybody by doing so, except to herself.
Just recently I saw an episode of "Germany's Next Topmodel" seasons. The poor contestants had to walk on incredibly high heels over a walkway filled with balls. Some of the models twisted their ankles badly and were probably very lucky to get through without a broken ankle.
Please, why do young girls have to master such a silly task? Apart from that, which halfway sensible fashion designer would let his models walk over such a catwalk? What sense would that make? It has nothing to do with model reality.
Having worked as a TV writer and producer for various TV formats for 25 years myself, I know that GNTM is of course mainly about entertainment. They are reality shows. The more absurd the challenges, the more viewers. So you can't blame GNTM alone. They only serve what brings ratings.
We determine what's on TV. Without viewers, there are no ratings, no show, no GNTM. We are the ones who love drama, fallen candidates and newly resurrected heroines. We, the viewers, the women in front of the TV have the real power.
I think especially high heels challenge us to think about the state of our actual level of emancipation. As long as we watch formats where women from young to old, have to go naked into a shoot and have to walk on dizzyingly high high heels to get a photo, we are still on the hook.
We want to please. At any price. In my opinion, we should learn to say "NO" to nonsensical things and demands more often. Men would certainly refuse, if we asked them to spend their lives on high heels ;-).
Let me hear what you think about it...I'm looking forward to your feedback....
