The other day Erin and I were driving to her house from my church building and we noticed a girl who appeared to be all of 18 walking up the slow incline toward campus along 7th east. What made this girl stand out was that she was wearing a pair of white high heels and was having trouble walking in them. As we looked at her a couple of things hit us; first, the shoes were too large for this girl; and second, she probably shouldn’t be walking in them because of the weather and the conditions. And yet, she was walking in them. A while later we saw her coming back down the hill, still in the heels, and still having trouble. They were still too large.
What I gathered from this was that this girl probably liked the shoes, borrowed them from a roommate, and decided to wear them.
High heels really, to me, aren’t all that attractive. There are times when they appear to be more appropriate than at other times, but for the most part, I don’t see the purpose in women or girls wearing them. Especially 90% of the time.
I share all of that to share this:
Most days, regardless of weather conditions, you can walk across campus and see girls wearing high heels. If there is ice on the ground, well, that is more of a reason to wear something that is, inherently, not stable. And yet, the girls on campus feel that the mere act of going to school is enough of a fashion show that they must wear high heels. I’m not talking about simple short heels, to clarify I am talking between three and four inches. It looks uncomfortable and I can only imagine what ones feet must feel like after a day of traversing the BYU campus. It’s a large campus.
So, the other day I was on my phone next to some statuary. While doing this I was watching the people moving back and forth. One of them, a girl, wearing a pair of heals that didn’t surround her feet and, basically, were straps holding her feet to the base of the shoe, walked up to a snow bank, stopped briefly, and then proceeded to walk across the lawn and snow in shoes that did nothing to protect her feet.
This morning, as I walked from the parking lot I generally park in, I noticed a girl, attractive but young, walking along. She was not only wearing high heels (without them she was at least as tall as me), but they were the kind with the really pointy toes. Two unattractive things. And yet, she continued to walk. Not fast, and not looking like it was comfortable, but she walked in these things until I, in my slow gait, moved far enough away from her that she was no longer in my peripheral eyesight.
If it is snowing you can bet your boots (and mittens) that a portion of the girls on campus will be wearing high heeled shoes. Small heels. That forces them to slip and slide across the campus without realizing it. I don’t understand that. It makes no sense to me.
I mean, life is hard enough when you take into account all the things you have to do. Work, school, roommate politics, family politics, etc., but to add to the pain and pressure that you’re already under by incorporating heels… that seems stupid.
We hear, it seems, all the time about the time and effort women put into their appearance. On top of that there’s a pretty large stink in Europe and New York and anywhere else models work for more realistic, not rail-thin models. Appearance, it would seem to me, is important and we put a lot of stock into the acquisition of proper appearance. This is important. We also put a lot of stock into trying to get women to feel good about themselves, to stand up for themselves, to not become doormats; and yet, I wonder if any of that effort is paying dividends when you watch these girls walk across campus.
This is not to say that some girls don’t feel better and more beautiful about themselves when they choose to wear heels. I believe this can be the case. Women do all sorts of things to themselves to enhance their perceptions of themselves. Men do it too, just not often to the same extent. There is plastic surgery that augments and changes aspects of the body, working out, make-up, diets, getting ones hair cut, changing jobs, seeking promotions, changing partners, pursing improvements to ones life. These make sense and yet the idea that a pair of shoes in inclement weather helps to enhance a person’s self-esteem seems to eschew itself in my mind. It doesn’t make sense.
I can begin to think about reasons why someone would do that. Erin tells me she’s interacted with a girl who only ever wears heels places. She (Erin) and her roommates were at some Corn Maze in October and this girl was there, in the dirt and mid, wearing high heels. That doesn’t make sense. It shows a lack of planning and foresight. It implies that she cares about only one thing, appearance; while comfort takes a back seat. The real implication, in my mind, is that she is trolling for men and hasn’t figured out how to do it outside of what she wears and how consistently. Maybe that worked for her in high school; maybe she was raised in a home where she was required, at all times, to wear high heels; maybe she is young and naïve; but whatever the reason, it doesn’t make sense that regardless of condition or destination these girls are bent on wearing nothing but heels.
It’s not my place to stand up and point out the flaw in the decision to wear heels. I can’t go around to each person that I see and ask, “What were you thinking, this morning, when you decided that the choice in footwear was high heels?” Nor can I expect an answer. In truth, as I write this, the answer that I come up with (pretty quickly) is, “Well, I chose these shoes because they matched my outfit the best.”
It’s snowing. Well, not really. But tomorrow it will be and there will be girls with open-toed shoes strutting around campus. Some will fall because the heels and sole pads don’t allow for any traction. Guys will come to their rescue. People will be concerned. And, at the end of the day, she, whomever that turns out to be, will have to go home and soak her dogs in a tub of warm to hot water to remove the pressure and strain of the day.
People have it hard enough wearing a pair of flat soled shoes all day long and their feet getting tired. They slip. Feet get wet and cold. Things happen. They slip on ice. Things happen. You don’t have to parade around like what you are wearing is constantly being judged. I can’t speak for girls, I’ve heard rumors that what is worn (at least among girls) is always noticed; but for me, I hardly notice what I am wearing day-to-day let alone what some chicka is wearing day to day. I am more interested in the sensible girl who likes to look nice, within reason, than the one who decides to peacock it around campus, wearing clothes and shoes that don’t appear to be comfortable, and who ignores the weather in lieu of a fashion statement.
Granted, I think Erin dresses rather nicely. And yet, I can’t tell you how often she wears heels. Well, that’s not true. She wears them to work; but, she works in a business that requires (yes requires) a certain style and appearance in their employees. I don’t have a problem with that. When she goes to class it’s in shoes that she can move around in. When she goes to church it’s a little more glamorous. When she goes to work, it’s a lot more glamorous. I don’t, often, have to worry about what is on her feet. If we are going to go do something that may require a bit of walking, and definitely any walking in rocky terrain, I suggest a different pair of shoes if what she is wearing isn’t conducive to the environment. More often than not, she is already wearing something that makes sense.
The point…
I don’t know. I’m just frustrated by the pageant that seems to go on. By what appears to be lack of common sense when weather and conditions don’t permit what is happening.
And with that, in this area, I am going to shut-up.
John Hattaway | Alicia Grey | Denny Crane | Zach Johnson | Bond. James Bond