High heels today are the source of much debate. Some say they give women power, others argue that the heels sexualize women. In order to truly understand both sides, one needs to explore the history behind these shoes. Either way, this highly feminine fashion actually started among noblemen, not noblewomen as one might expect.
There are two alternative theories about where this very popular footwear originated. Some scholars say that they evolved from Venetian chopines, medieval overshoes that acted like stilts to protect the extravagant shoes of European nobility from the grime of the streets. In the years before the enlightenment, when the streets became cleaner, use of this as a stilt was no longer needed to keep away muck. The chopines were increasingly worn by women rather than men, and the overshoes became increasingly tall, until the wearers needed servants to help keep them standing. This eventually led to the invention of European high heels.
Chopine
Others suggest that it was popularized by the Persians, whose cavalry used this shoe to keep their feet from slipping out of the stirrup, when they sent diplomats to Europe. Men started wearing heels in order to be taller than the rest of the populace, thus also being “above” them socially. Women adopted this fashion only afterwards in order to appear more confident and powerful.
Persian Heel
King Louis XIV of France in heels
It was only during the Enlightenment period that men stopped wearing such tall high heels as these shoes became associated with women, and by extension, their supposed irrationality and hysteria. After the French Revolution, when Napoleon rose to power, he outlawed high heels, and the shoes fell out of fashion.
Heels started to creep back into the social scene around the 1850s and the heels continued to grow but were stunted by the technological limitations of the time. The shoes again took off in the early 1950s after World War II, when technologies of plastic were discovered, and stilettos were born. It became a symbol of sensuality when pornographers discovered that it emphasized and enhanced “attractive” features such as women’s breasts and buttocks.
Since then, heels have become a fixture of the modern woman. Used in business, fashion, and pop culture, the shoe has become timeless. So why do women continue to wear high heels when they are uncomfortable and physiologically harmful to our plantigrade feet? Although ultimately it is the woman’s own decision to wear heels, it is another of the societal expectations that women have adopted and grown accustomed to.
References:
1. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stepping-out-a-history...
2. http://www.racked.com/2015/2/3/7997175/high-heels-...
3. http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/02/05/fr...
