High heels: chosen torture

Last Saturday, while I was partaking in the wonders of Iowa City’s Northside Oktoberfest/Brewfest, the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event took place near the Pentacrest. Members of the UI’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity wore “lipstick-red stiletto heels” with about 80 other participants to, according to the P-C, “stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence and raise funds for the Rape Victim Advocacy Program.”

I give them mad props for supporting RVAP and raising awareness, but the way they did it kind of irks me. I understand the symbolism and gesture, but when I heard about “Walk a Mile in Her Shoe” this was the first thing that popped into my head: women choose to torture themselves with high heels.

I have never worn high heels, but they look insanely uncomfortable. I know nothing about the history of high heels, but assume that only a man could have invented something so awful just to give women the illusion of having long, slender legs. Why women wear them is beyond me. Frankly, they are a huge turn off. Granted, I do not have that stereotypical, “Man Show” taste in women, but for me high heels symbolize submissiveness, dull-mindedness, conformism, sexism, objectification, and really bad taste. Regardless, they are torture devices disguised as footwear, and I have no clue why any self-respecting woman would wear them.

But they do. They choose to, for whatever reason. We are not like the Saudis, forcing women to conform to ancient dress codes, so high heels are not necessarily a direct symbolism of oppression. Which is why I think the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” kind of missed the point. However, the case could be made that a sexist fashion and cultural expectation could serve as a metaphor for rape or gender violence. (In that sense, I bet you’ll never look at high heels the same way again.)