High Heeled Shoe

Today, high heels are typically worn in public only by women, who are often expected to wear high heels at work and on formal occasions. High heels have seen significant controversy in the medical field lately, with many podiatrists fed up with seeing patients whose severe foot problems were caused almost exclusively by high heel wear.

Today's high heels, regardless of heel's shape, are generally limited to women's footwear. Some men's footwear, such as cowboy boots and shoes with a cuban heel are considered by some to be a high heel, even though neither tops 3" in the heel. What height constitutes a "high heel" has long been a point of contention between those who wear very high heels and those who wear lower heels. Most women comfortably wear heels between 2" and 3". Shoes with higher heels, such as those above 4", are worn only by a minority. Extremely high-heeled shoes, such as those higher than 5", are effectively worn only for display, and typically for the enjoyment of shoe fetishists and/or the wearer.

There are many reasons why women desire to wear heels, including:

• 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 (see shoe dangling)
• stiletto heels appear to some as a phallic symbol

However, some women shun these shoes because:

• 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 (see below)
• 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.

As a result of these conflicting factors, many women have a love/hate relationship with high-heeled shoes. This does not prevent the majority of women from owning several pair of high heels. A small proportion of women seem to be obsessed with high heels, owning many pairs. Imelda Marcos, for example, was famous for her vast collection. Some feminists consider high-heeled shoes a tool of female oppression, constraining their movements and behavior 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).