Buy a print

View artwork

Profile

 
return to ABOUT_NOW.html

HIGH HEELS


According to a Guardian newspaper article by Matthew Weaver, Nicola Thorp was told to leave city accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers on her first day as a temporary receptionist for refusing to wear high heels. A subsequent petition, supporting Nicola, was signed by 150,000 people.


Another petition has recently been submitted to the Japanese government to protest because high heels are considered to be ‘almost obligatory when job hunting or working at many Japanese companies’. These protests follow an apology from the Director of the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 when they denied women access to the red carpet for not wearing high heels. 


But one thing worries me. if  a receptionists sits behind a desk all day answering the phone and welcoming visitors then very few people will actually see her feet . If this is so, it is difficult to understand what the fuss might really be about !


Feminist critics claim that high heels sexualise the wearer emphasizing their body shape  instead of their intelligence, creativity or character. The higher the heel, the more pressure is placed on the leg leading to problems with varicose veins. Wearing high heels places heavy loads on the ball of the foot and stretches the Achilles Tendon. Scientific studies also show that high heels shift the body’s centre of mass which forces the spine to adjust itself in order to maintain balance. This increases pressure on both neck and lumbar muscles leading to back pain.The change of posture means that hips are taken out of alignment and the knee joints experience stress when adjusting to the shift. All for an arched back and a protruding bottom !