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{{Short description|Footwear that raises the heel of the wearer's foot significantly higher than the toes}}{{Redirect|High Heels}}{{Multiple issues|{{Globalize|date=August 2021|2=Europe|3=US}}{{Tone|date=August 2021}}}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}(File:Stilettos-heels-b.JPG|thumb|High-heeled shoes)High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels or pumps, are a type of shoe with an upward-angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the calf muscle.JOURNAL, 10.1589/jpts.27.67, Muscle activation of paraspinal muscles in different types of high heels during standing, 2015, Han, Dongwook, Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 27, 1, 67–69, 25642040, 4305600, free, There are many types of high heels in varying colors, materials, styles, and heights. High heels have been used in various ways to communicate nationality, professional affiliation, gender, and social status. High heels have been an important statement piece of fashion throughout history in the West.BOOK, Andrew Reilly, Ben Barry, Crossing Gender Boundaries: Fashion to Create, Disrupt and Transcend,weblink 24 February 2020, Intellect Books, 978-1-78938-115-3, 98–, High heels spread from equestrian origins with the 10th century Persian galesh to wider fashion use. In early 17th-century Europe, high heels were a sign of masculinity and high social status. Towards the end of the century, the trend began to spread to women's fashion.WEB, 2017, Standing TALL: The Curious History of Men in Heels,weblink 20 August 2021, Google Arts and Culture, Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada, By the 18th century, high-heeled shoes had split along gender lines. By this time, heels for men were chunky squares attached to riding boots or tall formal dress boots, while women's high heels were narrow, pointy, and often attached to slipper-like dress shoes (similar to modern heels). By the 20th century, high heels with a slim profile represented femininity; however, a thick high heel on a boot or clog was still socially acceptable for men. Until the 1950s, shoe heels were typically made of wood, but in recent years they have been made of a variety of materials including leather, suede, and plastic.WEB, BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - Nine show-stopping facts about high heels,weblink 2021-08-04, BBC, en-GB, Wearing high heels is associated with greater risk of falls,BOOK, Ravindra S. Goonetilleke, The Science of Footwear,weblink 6 November 2012, CRC Press, 978-1-4398-3569-2, 542–, musculoskeletal pain,JOURNAL, Barnish, MS, Barnish, J, High-heeled shoes and musculoskeletal injuries: a narrative systematic review., BMJ Open, 13 January 2016, 6, 1, e010053, 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010053, 26769789, 4735171, development of foot deformities, and varicose veins.JOURNAL, Tedeschi Filho, Wagner, Dezzotti, Nei R.A., Joviliano, Edvaldo E., Moriya, Takachi, Piccinato, Carlos Eli, Influence of high-heeled shoes on venous function in young women, Journal of Vascular Surgery, October 2012, 56, 4, 1039–1044, 10.1016/j.jvs.2012.01.039, 22483354, free,

History

Pre-1700s

(File:Shoes MET 54.61.74a-b CP4.jpg|alt=European heeled shoes from ca. 1690|thumb|European heeled shoes from {{circa}} 1690|181x181px)Platformed footwear has a long history dating as far back as ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, wearing very thick-soled sandals was an indication of upper-class status. Butchers in ancient Egypt also elevated themselves by wearing platformed sandals to keep blood away from their feet.WEB,weblink High Heels' Damage to the Human Foot, healthcare.utah.edu, 7 January 2016, BOOK,weblink High heels, Per, Mollerup, 30 September 2019, MIT Press, 76–77, 9780262351577, IEEE Xplore, Starting in the 10th century, the Persian cavalry wore galesh, a kind of boot with heels, in order to ensure their feet stayed in the stirrups. Heeled shoes also ensured the safety of Persian arrow-shooting riders, while standing up on galloping horses. This utility of the heel for horseback riders has been preserved in the Western cowboy boot. Wearing heels became associated with wealth because of its traditional connection with horseback riding, which was expensive and time-consuming.Avery Trufelman. "Feet of Engineering". 99% Invisible. Jun 2014. This practical use of the heel has set the standard for most horseback riding shoes throughout history and into the present day.(File:Ramappa Temple by Varsha Bhargavi Kondapalli 20.jpg|thumb|Closeup of padukas on an Indian medieval statue)After the Great Schism in the 11th century, the Pope notably began wearing red-heeled shoes. In 12th-century India, a statue from the Ramappa Temple depicts Indian woman's feet clad in raised shoes called paduka.{{Not in source|date=January 2024}} During the Medieval period in Europe, both men and women wore wooden pattens under or around their shoes to raise themselves out of the dirty and excrement-filled streets. The chopine combined this with the shoe,JOURNAL, Morris, Paul, Jenny White, Edward Morrison, Kayleigh Fisher, High Heels are Supernormal Stimuli: How Wearing High Heels Affects Judgments of Female Attractiveness, Evolution and Human Behavior, 34, 3, 176–181, May 2013, 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.11.006, reaching heights up to {{convert|30|in|cm|0}} by 1430. Venetian law later limited the height to three inches—but this regulation was widely ignored.ENCYCLOPEDIA, Margo DeMello, 2009, Sumptuary laws, Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia,weblink Greenwood Press/ABC-CLIO, 978-0-313-35714-5, 311, At the end of the Elizabethan era, cavalier boots were introduced for riding. These originally had relatively low heels, but by the time of the English Civil War stacked heels for men of up to 2 inches were common. A 17th-century law in Massachusetts announced that women would be subjected to the same treatment as witches if they lured men into marriage via the use of high-heeled shoes.ENCYCLOPEDIA, Margo DeMello, 10 September 2009, United States,weblink Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 978-0-313-35715-2, 323, Under the Manchu Qing dynasty, most wealthy Han women had bound feet with lotus shoes but some women wore platform shoes elevated{{mdash}}like many chopine{{mdash}}at the center of the sole rather than at the heels.WEB,weblink Brief Introduction of Manchu High-heeled Shoes, May 29, 2023,

1700s

File:Sanson- Safavid Persia men customs (Qizilbash)- سانسون- لباس مردان ایرانی (قزلباش) در دورهٔ صفوی.jpg|alt=European heeled shoes from ca. 1690|thumb|Persian men's heeled shoes in SafavidSafavid(File:Sanson- Safavid Persia women customs (Qizilbash)- سانسون- لباس زنان ایرانی (قزلباش) در دورهٔ صفوی.jpg|alt=European heeled shoes from ca. 1690|thumb|Persian women's heeled shoes in Safavid era|252x252px)File:Rigaud Louis XIV 1701.jpg|left|thumb|Portrait of 233x233pxModern high heels were brought to Europe by Persian emissaries of Abbas the Great in the early 17th century.WEB,weblink Why did men stop wearing high heels?, Kremer, William, 25 January 2013, bbc.com, BBC, 20 June 2018, Men wore them to imply their upper-class status; only someone who did not have to work could afford, both financially and practically, to wear such extravagant shoes. Royalty such as King Louis XIV wore heels, and his predecessor King Louis XIII introduced the red heel to the court of French nobility. As the shoes became a fashion trend, other members of society began donning high heels, and some elite members ordered their heels to be made even higher to distinguish themselves from the lower classes.Wade, Lisa. "From Manly to Sexy: The History of the High Heel" The Society Pages. 5 February 2013. Some authorities began regulating the length of a high heel's point according to social rank: "{{frac|2}} inch for commoners, 1 inch for the bourgeois, one and {{frac|2}} inches for knights, 2 inches for nobles, and two and {{frac|2}} inches for princes."BOOK, Klaus, Carl, Shoes, 2011, Parkstone International, 9781780421971, 72,weblink 6 May 2021, As women began to wear heeled shoes in the mid-to-late 17th century, societal trends moved to distinguish men's heels from women's heels. By the 18th century, men wore thick heels, while women wore thin ones. Over the course of the Enlightenment, men's heels began to concentrate on either practical riding boots or tall leather boots worn for status. In the late 1780s, the societal implications of wearing high and thin heels became fixed: high, thin heels represented femininity and the supposed superficiality and extravagance of women.(File:18th century shoes mules.jpg|thumb|Typical 18th-century shoe|left|171x171px)The design of the high French heels from the late 1600s to around the 1720s placed the wearer's body weight on the ball of the foot and was decorated with lace or braided fabric. From the 1730s to the 1740s, wide heels with an upturned toe and a buckle fastening became popular. The 1750s and 1760s introduced a skinnier, higher heel. The 1790s continued this trend but saw more experimentation with color. Additionally, during this period, there was no difference between the right and left shoes.Blanco F José, et al., editors. Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe. Santa Barbara, California, ABC-CLIO, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2016. Print.In Britain in 1770, an act was introduced into parliament that would have applied the same penalties to the use of high heels and other cosmetic devices as would have been applied in the case of witchcraft.{{citation |title=Manners, and Customs of the English Nation |author=John Brookes |pages=261–262 |publisher=James Blackwood |year=1859 |quote=In the year 1770 an act was introduced into Parliament against hoops, false hair, high heels...}}During the Regency era Hessian boots similar in appearance to modern cowboy boots were popular among dandies. After the Battle of Waterloo, high-heeled boots declined in popularity and were replaced with the lower-heeled Wellington Boots popularized by the famous British general.

1800s

(File:Wilson Sewing Machine 1850.jpg|thumb|1850's sewing machine)Heels went out of fashion starting around 1810, and then in 1860, they surged in popularity, with an average height of about two and a half inches. The Pinetto heel and the Cromwell heel were both introduced during this time.Shawcross, Rebecca. "High Heels." The Berg Companion to Fashion. Ed. Valarie Steele. Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. Web. Their production was also increased with the invention and eventual mass production of the sewing machine around the 1850s. With sewing machines, yields increased as machines could quickly and cheaply "position the heel, stitch the upper, and attach the upper to the sole."

1900s

During the 20th century, World War I and World War II led many countries to ration materials that were previously used to make shoes. Materials such as silk, rubber, and leather were prioritized for military use. Heels began to be replaced with cork and wooden-soled shoes.Stabb, Jo Ann. "The Early 20th Century Through World War II" Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe, edited by Jose Blanco, vol. 3 ABC-CLIO, pp. 330-332. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Due to the post-war increase in international communication, especially through photography and films, the Western fashion of women's high heels began to spread globally. In the early post-war period, brown and white pumps with cutouts or ankle straps combined with an open toe were some of the most fashionable women's heels. For many women in the West, high-heeled shoes began to symbolize professionalism, whereas leather and rubber thick-heeled boots for men came to be associated with militarism and masculinity.The era surrounding World War II saw the popularization of pin-up girl posters, the women in which were almost always pictured wearing high heels. In the minds of many men at war, and later, in American society at large, this led to an increase in the strength of the relationship between high heels and female sexuality. The tall, skinny stiletto heel was invented in 1950, and quickly became an emblem of female sexuality. There was a weakening of the stiletto style during the late 1960s, early 1970s, and 1990s when block heels were more prominent, followed by a revival in the 2000s.For men, high heeled boots made a comeback in the 1950 as the cowboy boot, associated with Western movies. During the 1960 and 1970, Beatle boots, Chelsea boots and Winkle-pickers with (wikt:Cuban heel|Cuban heels) became popular among Teddy boys, the mod subculture and the early garage punk scene.File:Foot care and shoe fitting-Fig37 US marine corps shoe 1920 and Resco shoe-fitting device.png|1920 US Marine Corps shoe, with high heel, showing position of foot bones (vertical black marks on the x-ray are nails used to hold the sole and heel on)File:Foot care and shoe fitting-Fig47 Foot in a 1920 US marine corps last Sufficient length but insufficient breadth, hallux valgus.png|Same shoe from above, showing pointed toe box too narrow for the toes, and hallux valgus deformity. The high heel shifts weight forwards, putting additional pressure on the sides of the toesFile:Betty_Grable_20th_Century_Fox.jpg|World War II poster of pin-up girl (Betty Grable) in high heels

21st century

In the Western world, high-heeled shoes exist in two highly gendered and parallel tracks: highly fashionable and variable women's shoes with thin long heels, and practical, relatively uniform men's shoes in a riding boot style, with thick, relatively short heels. Heels are often described as a sex symbol for women, and magazines like Playboy, as well as other media sources that primarily portray women in a sexual way often do so using high heels. Paul Morris, a psychology researcher at the University of Portsmouth, argues that high heels accentuate "sex-specific aspects of female gait," artificially increasing a woman's femininity. Likewise, many see the arching of a woman's back facilitated by wearing high heels as an imitation of a signal of a woman's willingness to be courted by a man.WEB,weblink Why arched backs are attractive, Elizabeth Hawkins, 25 October 2017, springer.com, JOURNAL, 10.1007/s40806-017-0123-7, Arching the Back (Lumbar Curvature) as a Female Sexual Proceptivity Signal: an Eye-Tracking Study, 2017, Pazhoohi, F., Doyle, J.F., Macedo, A.F., Arantes, J., Evolutionary Psychological Science, 4, 2, 1–8, 149046079, Despite the sexual connotations, heels are considered both fashionable and professional dress for women in most cases, the latter especially if accompanied by a pants suit. Some researchers argue that high heels have become part of the female workplace uniform and operate in a much larger and complex set of display rules. High heels are considered to pose a dilemma to women as they bring them sexual benefits but are detrimental to their health.{{Original research inline|date=September 2020}}JOURNAL, Barnish M, Morgan HM, Barnish J, The 2016 HIGh Heels: Health effects And psychosexual BenefITS (HIGH HABITS) study: systematic review of reviews and additional primary studies, BMC Public Health, 18, 1, 37, 28760147, 5537921, 10.1186/s12889-017-4573-4, Review, 2018, free,

Types

• Angle – "the surface of the base of the heel is straight until reaching the waistline, and it looks like the shape of the Korean letter ¬"
• Annabelle – 7-cm platform heel
• Bar – had jewelry or other decorative aspects; associated with flapper culture.
• Chunky – have a thick heel,{{citation |last=Maxfield |first=Clare |title=Getting Gorgeous |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gtxREgUWn0kC |page=97 |date=2004 |publisher=Palmer Higgs Pty Ltd |location= |isbn=9781921999376 }}. frequently paired with platforms
• Continental – 7.5 mm, with the upper part of the chest of the heel spreading towards the center of the shoe.
• Cromwell – based on Oliver Cromwell with heel up to {{cvt|6.5|in|order=flip}}.
• Cuban – similar to the continental heel, but not curved, generally medium height. Unlike the setback heel, the Cuban heel slopes away from the back surface of the shoe.
• New Look in 1947 – a slim, elegant heel, newly created by putting steel in the heel. This enabled the heel to be skinny without snapping.
• Pantaloon – "similar to Pantaloon pants: the top lift part of the heel is spread out as it extends to the bottom part of the heel, and the waistline of the heel curves inward naturally."
• Pinet – straight and skinny
• Platform - having a thicker sole under the ball of the foot, elevating the total heightWEB,weblink Attitude and Altitude: A Short History of Shoes &124; Britannica Blog, 10 February 2022, 25 September 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150925201340weblink">weblink dead,
• Setback – similar to the continental heel, but the surface of the back of the heel is straight, forming a right angle.
• Stacked – usually layers of leather 5 mm thick stacked together and trimmed to match the shape of the heel. These are commonly known as block heels.
• Stiletto – tall, skinny heel{{mdash}}the name taken from a long thin knifeWEB, Italian Translation of "stiletto" {{!, Collins English-Italian Dictionary|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-italian/stiletto|access-date=2021-08-04|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|language=en}}{{mdash}} first mentioned in a newspaper in September 1953.
• Wedge – popularized by Salvatore Ferragamo, who introduced this in the Italian market in the late 1930s.

Materials

File: ENB Artisan women's pumps with seal fur.jpg|thumb|Women's high-heeled shoes with dyed black harp seal fur, by Inuk designer Nicole CamphaugNicole CamphaugHigh heels have been made from a wide variety of materials throughout history. In the early years, leather and cowhide were preferred. Later, silk and patent leather were introduced. At the same time, cork and wood were utilized as cheap resources in times of war. After the World Wars, and the increase in production of steel, the actual heel was often a piece of steel wrapped in some material. This enabled designers to make heels taller and skinnier without them snapping.Schwartz, Jessica. "Stiletto Heels". Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe, edited by Jose Blanco, vol. 4: The Postwar Period into the 21st Century, ABC-CLIO, pp. 281-282. Gale Virtual Reference Library. The soles below the ball of the foot of ballroom shoes can also be made of materials like smooth leather, suede, or plastic.JOURNAL, Littig, Beate, 2013, On high heels: A radiography of doing Argentine tango, European Journal of Women's Studies, en, 20, 4, 455–467, 10.1177/1350506813496397, 144253838, 1350-5068,

Health impacts

Injury and pain

Wearing high-heeled shoes is strongly associated with injury, including injury requiring hospital care. There is evidence that high-heel-wearers fall more often, especially with heels higher than 2.5 cm, even if they were not wearing high heels at the time of the fall. Wearing high heels is also associated with musculoskeletal pain, specifically pain in the Paraspinal muscles (muscles running up the back along the spine) and specifically with heel pain and plantar calluses (only women tested).JOURNAL, Jellema, AH, Huysmans, T, Hartholt, K, van der Cammen, TJM, Shoe design for older adults: Evidence from a systematic review on the elements of optimal footwear., Maturitas, September 2019, 127, 64–81, 10.1016/j.maturitas.2019.06.002, 31351522,weblink free, 1765/117473, free, A 2001 survey conducted by Pennsylvania State University using 200 women found that 58% of women complained of lower back pain when wearing heels, and 55% of women said they felt the worst overall back pain when wearing the highest heel.JOURNAL, Lee, Chang-Min, Jeong, Eun-Hee, Freivalds, Andris, 2001, Biomechanical effects of wearing high-heeled shoes, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 28, 6, 321–326, 10.1016/s0169-8141(01)00038-5, 0169-8141, The same study argues that as heel height increases, the body is forced to take on an increasingly unnatural posture to maintain its center of gravity. This changed position places more pressure and tension on the lower lumbar spine, which may explain why some of the women complained of severe back pain at a higher heel length.In a 1992 study, researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Thomas Jefferson University conducted an investigation on the effects of increased heel height on foot pressure using forty-five female participants walking across a pressure plate in various heel heights.JOURNAL, Snow, Rebecca E., Williams, Keith R., Holmes, George B., 1992, The Effects of Wearing High Heeled Shoes on Pedal Pressure in Women, Foot & Ankle, en, 13, 2, 85–92, 10.1177/107110079201300206, 1572591, 2694160, 0198-0211, A Biokinetics software was used to analyze the exact pressure locations on and along each participants' foot. The researchers concluded that an increase in heel height leads to an increase in pressure beneath each of the Metatarsal bones of the foot. Additionally, they found that the highest heel heights caused constant pressure that could not be evenly dispersed across the foot.In a 2012 study, Kai-Yu Ho, Mark Blanchette, and Christopher Powers investigated the impact of heel height on knee stress during walking.JOURNAL, Ho, Kai-Yu, Blanchette, Mark G., Powers, Christopher M., 2012, The influence of heel height on patellofemoral joint kinetics during walking, Gait & Posture, 36, 2, 271–275, 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2012.03.008, 22520457, 0966-6362, The study consisted of eleven participants wearing tracking and reflective markers as they walked across a 10-meter force-plated walkway in low, medium, and high heels. The study argued that as the height of the heel increased, the ball of the foot experienced an increase in pressure resulting in increased discomfort levels and peak patellofemoral joint stress. The researchers also mentioned that the long-term usage of high heels may lead to repetitive overstress of the joint, which may result in an increase in pain and, eventually, patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis and Patellofemoral pain syndrome.In a 2012 study, researchers examined the risk long time high heel wearers would have in regards to calf Muscle fascicle length and strain.JOURNAL, Cronin, Neil J., Barrett, Rod S., Carty, Christopher P., 2012-03-15, Long-term use of high-heeled shoes alters the neuromechanics of human walking, Journal of Applied Physiology, 112, 6, 1054–1058, 10.1152/japplphysiol.01402.2011, 22241055, 6257203, 8750-7587, The control group consisted of women who wore heels for less than ten hours weekly and the experimental group consisted of women who wore heels for a minimum of forty hours weekly for at least two years. The experimental group was told to walk down a walkway barefoot and in heels. In contrast, the control group walked barefoot as cameras recorded their movements to calculate muscle fascicle lengths. The data showed that wearing heels shortened the size of the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle bundles in the calf significantly as well as increasing stiffness in the Achilles Tendon. The experimental group also demonstrated a more significant strain on the muscle fascicles while walking in heels because of the flexed position the foot is forced into. The researchers estimated that when wearing heels, the estimated fascicle strains were approximately three times higher, and the fascicle strain rate was about six times higher. Additionally, they concluded that the long-term usage of high heels could increase the risk of injuries such as strain and discomfort, and muscle fatigue.File:Achilles-tendon.jpg|Diagram of an Achilles tendonFile: Science ofDressTo face p236.png|Plantar flexion of the foot in high heels

Bunions

File:VerbildeteFusseNormaleFusse.gif|thumb|High-heeled shoes almost always have pointed (toe box]]esWEB, Rossi, William A., Footwear: The Primary Cause of Foot Disorders,weblink February 2001, which do not fit around the toes, but displace them from their natural position.)Wearing high-heeled shoes is associated with developing bunions, a deformity of the foot.

Balance control of the body

In 2016, scientists from the Department of Physical Therapy in the Sahmyook University in Korea conducted a study to examine increased heel height and gait velocity on balance control.JOURNAL, Jang, Il-Yong, Kang, Da-Haeng, Jeon, Jae-Keun, Jun, Hyun-Ju, Lee, Joon-Hee, 2016, The effects of shoe heel height and gait velocity on position sense of the knee joint and balance, Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 28, 9, 2482–2485, 10.1589/jpts.28.2482, 27799675, 0915-5287, 5080157, In this study, the participants were told to wear either a low or high heel and walk on a treadmill at a low and high speed. As a result of this experiment, the researchers argued that as heel height increased, the sway velocity of the bodies increased, which also modified the position of the knee joint, requiring the muscles of the leg to realign the entire body, especially the hips, along the line of gravity. As the body's weight shifted forward, the hips were taken out of alignment, and the knee joints experienced stress to adjust to the shift.

Postural effects

(File:Spinal column curvature-en.svg|thumb|upright|Spinal column curvature)In a 2016 study from the Sahmyook University in Korea, researchers investigated the effects of high heels on the activation of muscles in the cervical and lumbar portions of the spine.JOURNAL, Park, Kisu, Kim, Young, Chung, Yijung, Hwang, Sujin, 2016, Effects of the height of shoe heels on muscle activation of cervical and lumbar spine in healthy women, Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 28, 3, 956–959, 10.1589/jpts.28.956, 27134392, 0915-5287, 4842473, Thirteen women were recruited to walk down a walkway in three different testing conditions: barefoot, in 4 cm heels and in 10 cm heels. Surface electrodes were placed on the muscle mass of the women's spines and their feet to measure the electrical activity of muscles at different points of movement. The study results indicated an increase in both cervical and lumbar muscle activation as heel height increased: the cervical spine, the neck assists in maintaining head stability and postural control in the body. The usage of high heels shifts the body's center of mass, which requires the spine to adjust itself to maintain balance. The researchers mentioned that these results would increase local muscle fatigue over time, which could lead to muscle swelling, decreased muscle movement, and, in extreme cases of overuse, tissue deformation.

Vein swelling

Some research indicates that a possible consequence of wearing high heels is increasing pressure in one's veins. Experiments suggest that the higher the heel, the "higher [the] venous pressure in the leg." This means that after repeated use of high heels, varicose veins and other undesirable symptoms are much more likely to appear in the legs. Other research supports that claim that wearing high heels can lead to numerous long-term effects, including accidental trauma to multiple areas of the body.

Legislation

In Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, heels over 2 inches high with less than one square inch of bearing surface can be worn only with a permit.NEWS, Bell, Diane, Carmel high heel ban makes Ripley's,weblink San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 September 2014, It has been argued by some union leaders that high heels in the workplace should be subject to a health and safety assessment.NEWS,weblink live, High heels 'should be banned at work',weblink 23 September 2009, 14 November 2019, In the UK in 2016 temporary receptionist Nicola Thorp was sent home without pay after she refused to follow the dress code of the firm Portico. Thorp launched an online petition calling for the UK government to "make it illegal for a company to require women to wear high heels at work".NEWS, Johnston, Chris, 12 May 2016, Woman's high-heel petition receives 100,000-plus signatures, the Guardian,weblink 13 May 2016, Two parliamentary committees in January 2017 decided that Portico had broken the law, but by this time the company had already changed its terms of employment.NEWS, McIntosh, Lindsay, 16 May 2016, Heel-loving Sturgeon steps into shoe debate, The Times, London,weblink 7 March 2017, {{subscription required}}NEWS, Bilefsky, Dan, 6 March 2017, British Woman's Revolt Against High Heels Becomes a Cause in Parliament, The New York Times,weblink 7 March 2017, The petition was rejected by the government in April 2017 as they stated that existing legislation was "adequate".NEWS, 21 April 2017, High heels row: Petition for work dress code law rejected, en-GB, BBC News,weblink 21 April 2017, Existing legislation in the UK allows women to be required to wear high heels, but only if it is considered a job requirement and men in the same job are required to dress to an "equivalent level of smartness".NEWS, Yorke, Harr, 21 April 2017, Employers can force women to wear high heels as Government rejects campaign to ban the practice, The Telegraph,weblinkweblink 12 January 2022, subscription, live, {{cbignore}}In April 2017 the Canadian province of British Columbia amended workplace legislation to prevent employers from requiring women to wear high heels at work.NEWS, Collig, Pádraig, 8 April 2017, Canadian province makes it illegal to require women to wear high heels, The Guardian,weblink 8 April 2017, Other Canadian provinces followed suit.NEWS, 30 November 2018, Alberta takes steps to ban mandatory high heels in the workplace {{!, National Post|language=en-CA|work=National Post|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/alberta-takes-steps-to-ban-mandatory-high-heels-in-the-workplace|access-date=11 November 2019}}The Philippines forbade companies from mandating that female employees wear high heels at work in September 2017.NEWS, Yi, Beh Lih, 2017-09-25, Philippines bans mandatory high heels at work, Reuters,weblink 2019-07-29, The #KuToo campaign in Japan collected nearly 20,000 signatures on a petitionNEWS, 2019-06-06, #KuToo no more! Japanese women take stand against high heels, en, Reuters,weblink 2019-10-29, for a ban on mandatory high heels. The government said that they had no plans to change.NEWS, Hollingsworth, Julia, 4 June 2019, Japanese women revolt against high heel requirements, en, CNN Style,weblink The Japanese Minister of Labor has stated that it is acceptable for companies and others to require women to wear high heels as long as it is necessary and appropriate for the job, with reference to socially accepted norms.WEB,weblink No198 Japanese House of Representatives Session minutes remark No.059,No.063,No.069, 2019-06-03, 10 February 2023, WEB,weblinkweblink ja:職場でハイヒール強制「業務上必要なら」 厚労相が容認, ja, The Asahi Shimbun, 5 June 2019, 20 May 2022, 10 February 2023,

Feminism

(File:Legs-and-heels.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=The legs and feet of a woman wearing high-heeled shoes|High heels can have the effect of sexualizing the wearer.)In the West, high-heeled shoes are often regarded as an emblem of femininity, and thus have been the subject of analysis by Feminist authors. Some have argued that "high-heeled shoes, perhaps more than any other item of clothing, are seen as the ultimate symbol of being a woman." Modern high heels with thin and long heels often serve to emphasize the wearer's arched back and extended buttocks. This "natural courting pose" has sometimes been analyzed as a form of objectification in service of the male gaze.Some Feminist scholars have argued that men's views on the culture of high heels are problematic: A sizable proportion of men regard the cultural expectation for women in professional environments to wear high heels as unproblematic.JOURNAL, Reynaud, Bérénice, January 2002, These Shoes are Made for Walking, Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, 6, 42–51, 10.1086/aft.6.20711475, 184089741, However, it has not been popular for men to wear tall and thin high heels since the late 17th century. Thus, since some women report that high heels are often painful to walk in, and commonly result in negative side effects to joints and veins after prolonged use, many have argued that it is unreasonable of men to support such a cultural norm.At the feminist Miss America protest in 1968, protestors symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "freedom trash can." These included high heels,JOURNAL, Dow, Bonnie J., Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 6, 1, Spring 2003, 127–149, 10.1353/rap.2003.0028, 143094250, which were among items the protestors called "instruments of female torture"BOOK, Duffett, Judith, WLM vs. Miss America, Voice of the Women's Liberation Movement, October 1968, 4, and accouterments of what they perceived to be enforced femininity.In 2015, a group of women were turned away from a film premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France for wearing flat shoes, including a woman physically unable to wear heels due to an operation on one of her feet.NEWS,weblinkweblink 12 January 2022, subscription, live, Emily Blunt on Cannes heels row: 'everybody should wear flats', The Telegraph, en-GB, 16 May 2016, 2015-05-19, {{cbignore}} The women complained that the policy of the festival on women's footwear was unjust. Festival organizers later responded that there was no official policy on footwear and stated that they would remind red carpet officials of this.WEB,weblink Cannes denies high-heel rule for women on red carpet, www.yahoo.com, 16 May 2016, 1 June 2016,weblink dead,

Dress codes

Few dress codes require women to wear high heels, and some medical organizations have called for a ban on such dress codes. There have been many protests by women workers against such policies. Laws regarding dress codes that require women to wear high heels in the workplace vary.

A Mile in Her Shoes

(File: A mile in her shoes 121016-A-LH369-003.jpg|thumb|A Mile in Her Shoes: men walk a mile in high heels to support domestic violence victims)A Mile in Her Shoes is an annual march in which men wear red high heels and walk a mile to protest domestic violence. Some academics{{Who|date=August 2021}} have suggested that by wearing high heels for such a brief period and making a point of acting like they do not know how to walk properly, these men reinforce the stereotype that only women can or should wear high heels.JOURNAL, 10.1177/0891243209356924, Men Just Weren't Made to do This, 2010, Bridges, Tristan S., Gender & Society, 24, 5–30, 145672875,

Children

File: Mary Janes on display in Carrefour Fuzhou Powerlong (20170124170220).jpg|thumb|left|Children's high-heeled Mary Janes for sale in FuzhouFuzhouHigh heels are also sometimes marketed to children, and some schools encourage children to wear them. 18% of injuries from wearing high heels were in children, and 4% in under-tens, in a 2002–2012 US survey. A 2016 medical review on high-heeled shoes expressed concern about children's use of high heels. A nine-year-old is about half an adult's height, and a toddler about a quarter; so, relative to body height, a 2-inch (5 cm) heel on an adult would be a one-inch heel on the nine-year-old, and a half-inch heel on the toddler, though whether this translates to comparable health harms is not known.

Dancing

Styles of dance that use heels

(File: Ladies' ballroom shoes, Tango Shoes 1.jpg|thumb|Standard ballroom tango shoes)Many styles of dance are performed in heels. Ballroom dancing shoes are specific to the dance style being performed. International Standard ballroom shoes for women are closed-toed shoes with a sturdy 2-to-2.5-inch heel because steps are performed using the foot's heel.WEB,weblink Ballroom Guide - Shoe Guide Page 1 What are Dance Shoes?, www.ballroomguide.com, 2019-03-19, 13 May 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210513130133weblink">weblink dead, International Latin and American Rhythm shoes are open-toed, strapped heels that are an average of 2.5 to 3 inches in height. These shoes have the least sturdy heel because International Latin and American Rhythm styles are performed on the ball of the foot. This style of shoe is designed with a flexible sole to allow pointed feet. Lastly, American Smooth shoes are closed-toed, flexible-soled shoes that range in heel height from 2 to 2.5 inches.A non-traditional ballroom dance that uses heels is the Argentine tango. While dancing the Argentine tango, women often wear pointed heels ranging in height from 2 to 4 inches. More advanced dancers typically choose higher heels.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} The heels can have a significant impact on the posture of a dancer by tilting the pelvis and making the buttocks more prominent, forcing the abdomen in and pushing the breasts out.Linder and Saltzman (1998), "A HISTORY OF MEDICAL SCIENTISTS ON HIGH HEELS" International Journal of Health Services. 28(2): 201-225 They can also cause instability as they force women to dance on their toes and lean on their partner, which adds to the fluidity of the movements.A modern style of dance called heels choreography or stiletto dance specializes in choreography that blends the styles of jazz, hip-hop, and burlesque with the fusion of vogue movements and is performed using stilettos or high heels.WEB,weblink Dance Centre Myway - Стили / Heels, mywaydance.com, 2019-03-01, 21 March 2019,weblink dead, Dancers such as Yanis Marshall specialize in dancing with high heels.WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-11-18, live, Yanis Marshall - The Choreographer - Zumanity: Rated Cirque - Ep. 1- Cirque Du Soleil, YANIS MARSHALL, 28 December 2015, YouTube, {{cbignore}}

Injuries

Some dance-related injuries are attributable to the use of heels. In particular, shoes with a narrow space for the toes can squeeze tightly enough to cause foot deformity.JOURNAL, Han, Dongwook, 2015, Muscle activation of paraspinal muscles in different types of high heels during standing, Journal of Physical Therapy Science, en, 27, 1, 67–69, 10.1589/jpts.27.67, 25642040, 0915-5287, 4305600, Dancers can add cushioning to the soles of their dancing shoes or inserts to ease the pain during dancing.

See also

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• Desert boots
• Fashion boots
• Foot binding
• Pointed shoe
• Riding boots
• Thigh-high boots
• Ballet boot
• Cowboy boot
• Elevator shoes
• Fuck-me shoes
• High heel policy
• Insolia
• Locomotor effects of shoes
• Platform boots
• Removable heel
• Stiletto heel
• Wedge heel

{{div col end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|High-heeled shoes}}

• WEB,weblink High Heel Shoe museum, 24 January 2021, 21 January 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200121073120weblink">weblink dead,
• WEB,weblink How to Wear High Heels, Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan, 20 July 2012,

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