I don’t like shoes, period, and I wear the least amount of shoe I can. I hardly ever dress up and see no reason to wear heels with jeans.
I used to wear them always and I was one of those women who were uncomfortable in flats. Unfortunately a bad break of my big toe means that most pretty pretty shoes are now uncomfortable. I do have a few pair that I can still wear but no more 16 hour days in 4" heels for me. Even the ones I can still wear start getting uncomfortable around the 8 hr mark. Sucks 
- They hurt
- They f^&*&%^% hurt!
- Did I mention how much they hurt?
This. ^
Sign me up for “painful and clumsy.” Also, my hamstrings are already super tight and wearing tall heels all the time makes the problem tremendously worse (this is not exactly “health” but its sort of related).
I wear 2" pumps to work at those time when I wear a dress to work (only in the summer), but mostly I wear 1" heeled loafers.
I have enough foot problems as it is now. I’d have to look it up, but I had an ulcer on one of my toes for what seemed like a year. It finally healed up without any amputation, but it was NOT FUN to go to the podiatrist every week and get dead (and not-quite-dead) tissue trimmed off. NOT FUN. NOT FUN AT ALL.
I also have balance issues. I tend to sway when I’m standing, and my husband has, on several occasions, told me to sit down right now because I’m swaying back and forth without even noticing it. I’ve fallen down at times, sometimes quite spectacularly. I’ve never seriously hurt myself…yet.
And this, too. I have enough hurt in my life, I don’t need to add any more.
I don’t find them sexy–and if they’re too high, they make any wearer look like a hooker (IMO). I have foot problems: bone spur, high arches and orthotics. I don’t have balance problems, but almost anyone in high heels would. Plus, they add to posture problems and yes, they are painful to wear.
High heels also shorten the muscle fibers in your gastrocnemius–that’s the calf muscle and they can make pronation worse.
Here’s an abstract about high heels and pronation. Pronation
I don’t wear flat flats–my podiatrist has said that any shoe I can bend in half does not provide enough support for my issues. I do like the look of flats and/or maybe a 1-2 inch heel (at most). I have almost never worn stilettos. I’m just not a heels person. That said, I can see a wedge or wide heel providing decent support, but not to walk outside or run to catch the train type footwear.
I’ve spent most of my working life on my feet. There is no way I’d ever cram my wide feet into a pair, even if I didn’t have bunions, a hammertoe, and wonky ankle issues.
I also dislike the vulnerability factor.
I also do NOT understand the shoe obsession of many females! Huh? Pretty?? They’re SHOES, for crying out loud!
Just hand me my New Balance, please.
~VOW
Age / weight
Used to wear them, used to love them, and I could run in stillettos.
They just don’t look right anymore since I’m older and heavier. It’s like those leggings that look great on slender women but I know would make me look like a blob on a stick.
No decent (3in+) heels will enhance my figure the way they used to.
Also adding to the women who’ve had more problems from flats than heels. Bastard things put me in a cast for 8 weeks with a snapped Achilles.
How different is this “fashion” from the binding of girls’ feet in ancient Japan? It causes permanent shortening of the achilles tendon. It causes unnecessary pain. It causes a short, “lady-like” gait. It makes the leg muscles look attractive to men.
I wore them when I was young. Now, I prefer to be safe and comfortable.
I have to wear them periodically for work reasons. I own one very good pair that I can wear for 4-5 hours with minimal pain that cost a bundle,but I intend to get years of use out of them. Normally I wear low-heeled boots or pumps and sandals when I can get away with it. Wide feet and bad lower back since my mid-twenties have kept me out of high heels for 25+ years now.
What they said. Plus, I just don’t find shoes interesting. Utilitarian for me - plain, basic shoes that go with a maximum of outfits and are suitable for a maximum of situations.
I do wear heels most of the time, so I didn’t vote in this poll. (Instead, I answered it with another poll.)
But I thought of something to say for this thread: The times when I choose not to wear heels? The number one reason would be if I needed to walk on soft earth where heels would sink in.
I chose: I can’t balance well in them. They hurt my feet. I’m worried about their long-term effects on my foot health. They draw unwanted male attention. They make me feel physically vulnerable (can’t run, fight off an attacker, etc as easily). I feel that they are a symbol of female oppression. They aren’t practical for my lifestyle/career.
I’ve never tried on a pair of heels that didn’t become uncomfortable after just a couple of minutes. And overall I’m just not a shoe-hound or clothes-horse, at all. I have a pair of black flats that works in every occasion where I need to dress up. They’re cheap and comfortable and serviceable. Why would I waste money on anything else? I am low-maintenance and would rather spend my money on practical things. I don’t see fuck-me heels as necessary for anything I care about, so I would never buy them.
I also see heels (or rather, the destruction they wreak on women’s feet) as a symbol of female oppression, similar to foot-binding in Chinese culture (obviously to a less-severe degree, but created by the same mindset). I do realize that neither I nor the opposition are likely to change our minds about this, though.
I have a bad knee and haven’t worn shoes with heels in over 20 years… but the knee just gives me a good excuse. I never liked heels anyway. Aside from the balance thing, I see how they mush up and crowd women’s toes.
I like shoes and boots and have a pretty good selection in my wardrobe to suit many situations and occasions, but they’ve all got nice, roomy toes and nothing with more than a solid inch-and-a-half heel. No pointys.
Morton’s neuroma makes any shoe that puts pressure on the ball of my foot absolutely unbearable after about thirty minutes, if I make it that long.
I’m not a shoe-a-holic, and at my age I put comfort before looking good. 
Most well-fitting low heels are comfortable, but only a few high heels are. Also they’re impractical (or even dangerous - I paint houses for a living mostly) for work.
My default is low/no heel, even for dressy shoes or boots. I own exactly one pair of high-heeled dress shoes. They are black with sparkly shit on them, go well with most outfits and look cute. I wear them once or twice a year.
Winter in heels sucks.
Spring in heels sucks.
Rain in heels sucks.
My foot is not shaped like a wedge, yet most heeled shoes are.
I’ve seen what wearing 3"+ heels did to my mom’s tendons.
I’m 5’11". I’m clumsy. They hurt, and I walk a lot at work, so I need something more comfortable.