High Heeled Shoes - Essay Example

High Heeled Shoes High-heeled shoes are shoes that raise the heel of the wearer's foot considerably higher than the toes. When both the heel and the toes are raised, as in a platform shoe, it is generally not considered to be a "high heel." There are a wide variety of high heels shoe styles and shapes including stiletto, block, tapered, blade, and wedge (High-heeled shoe, 2006). Today, high heels are usually worn in public only by women, who are often wearing them at work and on formal occasions. However, high heels have seen importantly controversial in the medical field lately, with many podiatrists fed up with seeing patients whose severe foot problems were caused almost mainly by high heel shoes (High heeled shoe, 2006). History of high heeled shoe The history of heels is not clear, although they date back to pre-Christian times. Egyptian butchers wore high heels to raise them above the carnage, and Mongolian horseman had heeled boots for gripping their stirrups firmly. The first recorded year heels were worn for vanity was 1533, when Catherine de Medicis brought heels from Florence to Paris for her marriage to the Duke d'Orleans. The style was instantly set forth by ladies from the French court (The history of heels, n.d.). High heels are not a modern day invention. Rather, they enjoy a diverse history, for both men as well as women. Despite arguments over when high heels were first used, but there is a consensus that heels were worn by both men and women throughout the world for many centuries and for a range of reasons (heeled wiki). The first officially recorded moment of the wear of high heels involved the 1533 marriage between Catherine de Medici with the Duke of Orleans. She wore heels made in Florence for her wedding, which made high heeled shoes a norm for ladies of the Duke's court in France. In fact, it's plausible that the "modern" high heel was invented by non other than Leonardo da Vinci (heeled wiki). Within the next century, European woman walked on heels 5 inches and higher, balancing with canes so as not to fall. As the working class couldn't afford to wear such shoes high heel shoe heights fell. And therefore after they rose or fell according to the fashion (NU heels). Use of high heeled shoe Although most people equate high-heeled shoes with women, this is not only not the case throughout history; it's still not the case today. Many men throughout the Western world, including Europe, the U.S., Canada, and other countries, wear high-heeled shoes on a regular basis, and for a diversity of reasons. High-heeled male dance shoes (often called Cuban heel or Latin heel shoes) are fairly common, especially for shorter male partner dancers and are not considered effeminate or transvestite wear (heeled shoe wiki). How women use high heeled shoe In the 19th century the high heeled shoe became the top style to own. Although Europe brought the new trend for high heels, America wasn't far behind in becoming of style. In 1888 the first heel factory in the United States opened, making it unnecessary for women to import their shoes from Paris (The history of heels, n.d.). Newly liberated, women in the early part of the 20th century favored sensible shoes. But in the 1920s, as hemlines rose, legs and feet were suddenly on display and shoes needed to be as beautiful as they were practical (The history of heels, n.d.). Despite being in and out of style, high heels reached new level with the advent of the stiletto in the 1950s. And to the dislike of many women, high heels popped up again in fashion magazines in the 1990s. Still, whether a woman thinks heels are the height of fashion or the height of pain, she usually has a least five pair in her closet for the occasion when flat shoes just won't do (The history of heels, n.d.). Despite women have a love/hate relationship with high-heeled shoes. This does not prevent the most of women from owning a number pair of high heels. A small number of women however, seem to be obsessed with high heels, owning many pairs. Imelda Marcos, for example, was famous for her huge collection of high heeled shoes. Some feminists consider high-heeled shoes a tool of female oppression, limiting their movements and behaviour as much as possible. Throughout the last sixty years, high heels have fallen in and out of favor several times, most notably in the late 90s, when lower heels and even flats predominated. Lower heels were preferred during the late 60s and early 70s, as well, but higher heels returned in the late 80s and early 90s. The shape of the heel has vacillated back and forth between block (70s), tapered (90s), and stiletto (50s and post-2000) (High-heeled shoe, 2006). There are many reasons why women desire to wear heels, including (High-heeled shoe, 2006): The change in angle of the foot with respect to the lower leg shortens and accentuates the calves They make the woman appear taller One's legs look longer, and therefore more sensuous The change in gait and posture thrusts the buttocks backwards, and causes the hips to sway more - both strong sexual signs Many heels, particularly sandals, make the sole of the foot visible, also a strong sexual sign. Stiletto heels appear to some as a phallic symbol. However, some women shun these shoes because (High-heeled shoe, 2006): High heels can be painful to wear, particularly for long periods They shorten the stride of the wearer They make the wearer less able to run, and hence more vulnerable They can damage the wearer's feet and tendons when worn over long periods. Progressively higher heels are progressively riskier and more difficult to walk in; tripping is much more likely, and the risk of damaging the wearer's ankles, toes, and feet, both short-term and long-term, is similarly increased. Health issue on high heeled shoe The idea that high heels can be dangerous to one' health is not new-orthopedists have warned women all along that high heels can add to the development of a many of conditions from corns and calluses to hammertoes, arthritis, chronic knee pain, sprained ankles and back problems. In 1998, a team of Harvard researchers linked high heels and knee osteoarthritis, a painful, degenerative joint disease characterized by the breakdown of the cartilage surrounding the knee. In that study, D. Casey Kerrigan, MD, associate professor of physical medicine at Harvard Medical School, and her team looked at very narrow, stiletto heels (High heels dangerous, 2006). Walking on high heels puts unnecessary stress on both the front and the back of the knee as The Lancet study demonstrates, pressure on the knee was increased by 22 to 26 percent. The health of the cartilage that forms the padding between bones in the knee is dependent on the fluid in the knee. It absorbs the nutrients it needs from this liquid to repair itself, but stress on the knee restricts the absorption of the fluid, and the cartilage begins to dry out and shred. Over time, it wears out and arthritis sets in. There are also genetic components of arthritis and there may be nutritional aspects as well, but still high heeled shoes don't help (Sella, 2001). Reference List Heel (shoe). (2006). Wikimedia. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel_%28shoe%29 [05 Dec. 2006] High-heeled shoe. (2006). Wikimedia. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-heeled_shoe [05 Dec. 2006] High heels dangerous to your health. (2001). www.ynhh.org. Available from: http://www.ynhh.org/healthlink/womens/womens_6_01.html [05 Dec. 2006]. Sella, Enzo J. (2001). The high price of high heels.www.ynhh.org. Available from: http://www.ynhh.org/healthlink/womens/womens_ 6_01.html [05 Dec. 2006]. The History of Heels. (n.d.). www.nu-highheels.com. Available from:http://www.nu-highheels.com/history.html [05 Dec. 2006]. Read More