I was checking ebay express for some espadrilles. For some reason in the “Related Items” area a pair of shoes came up that had me thinking it had to be a joke. These must be the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever seen. I believe they are for “playing” in bed. Nobody can walk in those.
Anyway… that made me think of something I have considered in the past. Why is it that we humans are drawn so strongly to the “impossible beauty” standard. The standards of beauty throughout the ages have seen women uncomfortable – or worse, and just as common – mutilated for the sake of beauty. I suppose I don’t need to give you examples of the crazy things women have done in the name of “beauty”.
Are these women’s ideas? Who came up with this stuff? Are we doing this (like I’ve seen suggested) to impress other women, or to attract men? Or both? Do men even find this attractive at all (the “impossible beauty”)?
I’ll come back to this thread soon. I have an appointment for some Botox, and some Restylane…
Simply, advertising sells. People get their ideas of beauty from other sources, such as family, friends, neighbors, and to a very large extent the media. When media source A shows an image of(for example) a woman in a short skirt, and it brings in customers, media source B says to itself, “If I show skirts that are a bit shorter, I could take those customers away from media source A!” Skirts get shorter and shorter until the public either gets tired of the whole thing, or a new trend starts in pretty much the same way. This is how you get from models that are on the slim side to models that are on just this side of starving to death in appearance. We are slowly conditioned to accept these shifting standards as examples of true beauty by media sources-if left to our own devices, our standards would be much different.
If you look into it, you will find that any changes in fashion and/or beauty came at a much slower rate, didn’t hit the extreme ends of the scale as often as it does now.
I think it has to do with effort, availability and conspicuous consumption. I haven’t looked at the shoes you linked to, but I’m pretty sure they are impractical. That implies the person is willing to go an extra mile to be able to wear those. Availability: Those types of shoes are not readily available at your local Walmart, so extra mile even getting them. I’d guess on the whole, they aren’t especially cheap, especially for something that sounds like it has limited usability.
More appropriately shaped bodies, eyebrows, hair styles, clothing take more effort. Affluence implies time. A single mom with 3 kids and 2 jobs probably doesn’t get much time to go off for days at the spa.
I’ve known several women in my life who were, what I considered, quite odd about clothing. One never wore the same outfit twice and another kept a calendar of her clothing to make sure she never wore the same outfit within the same month. Both indicated to me that they gave way, way too much thought to what other people thought they were wearing. I would guess on the whole, if you are that type of person, you notice, but the vast majority of us, really, really don’t care that specifically.
On a good note, we do have more options available to us today than at any other time. I remember a time when you could only buy espadrilles if they were in fashion and in season. Same with other fashion items. So even if you feel the pressure to conform, you don’t have to, or can do it in a way that is more appropriate to your own personal style.
Well sure, of course it CAN be done - as long as you put no pressure at all on the heels. You’ll notice the first shot in that video is of the broken heel as sold - the mall walking is done with “modded” wooden blocks behind the “sole” of the shoe.
Ballerinas are certainly trained to walk en pointe. The shoes are also referred to as “blocked”, for much the same reason we see there: there’s a canvas (or sometimes wood) block which is then padded with cotton in the toe part of the shoe. Walking or dancing en pointe leads to terrible feet! Most of your toenails blacken and fall off, the foot itself may become deformed (small girls are not allowed to go en point until their bones have developed to a point where deformities are minimized, but not eliminated), and most dancers have a multitude of calluses, blisters, sores and raw bleeding spots at any one time, not to mention more severe injuries like broken ankles, tendonitis, fascitis, heel spurs and neuromas. But it’s so purty!
As for the OP, I think it’s because, we equate unusual with valuable. We do it with rocks and special edition DVD’s and upside down stamps - why not with people?
Not TOO unusual, of course, 'cause that’s gross. But just unusual enough, and that’s sexy.
I personally find those shoes gross, but whatever rocks your world, I guess!
Many women’s fashions throughout the ages are intended to demonstrate that you are wealthy and cared for, and thus of high status since you do not have to do any work. Others (foot binding) further prevent you from doing so, thus forcing you into dependence.
In some cases, the demonstration of this has reversed through the years. At one time a plump figure indicated that you were wealthy, since you (or someone who cared for you) could afford food. Skinny people were poor. These days the cheapest food you can get is often the least healthy, full of carbs and empty calories. On the other hand, more well-off people can afford gym memberships. Similarly, in earlier times, a very pale complexion meant you didn’t have to go outside and work. Today, paleness means you’re stuck in a factory or cube farm all day. The wealthy can afford tropical vacations and tanning beds.
Shoes: A totally uncomfortable and impractical shoe (or other clothing) indicates you aren’t even doing housework, let alone going to work. And that you have nothing better to do than to spend money on a useless object. The more expensive and less useful the better, for a status symbol.
Browse for old Chinese erotic art sometime. The women are depicted with legs that practically narrow to a point. Their feet are best described as vegetal. Quite aside from the elite leisure factor MLS mentioned, feet in particular seem to be a common fetish throughout history.
I wonder… people are doing all kinds of body modification these days with implants and cosmetic surgery. Maybe eventually someone’s going to try some sort of implant in their heels that will transmit their weight onto the spike of a spike heel shoe. Maybe a socket that the spike extends up into.
I’m almost certain that I have gaped at shoes that were a combination of this and this before. Ballet wedges? Also, I think I’ve seen the monstrosity that is this shoe combined with the shoe in the OP as well. ETA: Yeah, see here. OUCH! is the only word I can find to describe these shoes, that and NO!
These shoes are a logical extension of the desire to be special, which is an inherent part of our genetic makeup and perhaps related to a drive to be reproductively successful.
I don’t see a difference between these shoes and colorful espadrilles (versus purely functional espadrilles), except in degree. I wonder if you’d be more inclined to wear fashionable and striking espadrilles. The next woman over needs to one-up you. And so on until those weirdo shoes show up.
Huh?
But do men really like this? Does it help women get a mate at all? My husband says those “porn shoes” are a complete turnoff for him? Is he in a minority?
It’s a Verizon commercial that’s run absolutely everywhere for a few months. A woman is being indecisive between several items and tormenting her boyfriend over it, and one of the items is “espadrille - or wedge?” Of course, whatever he picks in the commercial turns out to be wrong…he picks espadrilles and she decides that she wants the wedges.
Men who have a foot fetish are, I believe, generally more interested in the prospects of touching and being touched/smooshed by the foot. Shininess might be a bonus, but I don’t think they’d care all that much about how the girl actually walks on it.
Some fashion, I tend to get the sense that it comes about due to older women unconsciously trying to get revenge on younger girls for still being young and wanted. If you read Anchee Min’s book on Madame Mao, it was Mao’s mom who wanted to bind her feet, for instance. And just overall, it doesn’t make much sense why a guy would prefer a girl who’s not going to be able to have a sex romp around the whole bedroom (unless he’s a sadist, of course.)
