Feet Are A Feminist Issue

In Sex and the City, Carrie and her friends pound the Manhattan pavement in stilettos. For me, the mystery isn't if they live happily ever after but whether or not they have bunions and hammertoes.

Many real-life Manhattan women walk around the city in rubber flip-flops, platform peekaboos, and floppy ballet shoes with elasticized backs. With the gladiator sandal trend there are now lots of ankles encased in complicated straps and buckles. Don't be fooled. Pancake-flat shoes without arch support can make a woman feel like she's been fighting all day long in a Roman amphitheater.

Shoes can transform an outfit from the mundane to the magical, as Sarah Jessica Parker's character loves to remind us. High-heeled shoes give the illusion of elongating the legs, which is slimming. And shoes are relatively easy to shop for; one doesn't have to enter a dressing room and disrobe. For many women, myself included, that fact alone makes shoe shopping particularly alluring. So if my toes squish just a little to fit, or if they flop and flip without any protection to keep them in place, who cares? Isn't that the price of being a woman?

It's hardly news that looking feminine can be painful--from plucking, waxing, injecting, chemical-peeling, and the slicing off of fat and bone. Whether we accept, reject, or howl against this premise that femininity is a masochistic process, we can all agree that a woman should not damage her body permanently in the pursuit of looking attractive.

Ladies, please forgive me: I don't enjoy being the messenger of depressing news. But you should be aware that your most fashionable shoes, no matter how chic and status-laden, harm your feet. They have cramped toe boxes, inadequate arch support, and force you to hobble rather than stride. I've never met anyone not horrified by Chinese foot-binding, in which girls' toes were deliberately broken. Yet we jam our own toes into shoes with barely enough room for a kitten's paw, leading to potential serious injury. Some women have even revived foot-binding in a sense: they undergo cosmetic foot surgery, shortening their toes to fit into their shoes.

Recently my feet and knees started to hurt even when I wore flats or sneakers. I visited a podiatrist, who informed me I have bunions. Bunions? The word made me think of onions and bad breath. Bunions, I now know, occur when the big toe shifts angle, pointing toward the little ones instead of straight forward. The large joint of the big toe becomes inflamed. It turns out that my pronated feet (they roll inward), which I always thought had no consequence other than my walking a little ungracefully, are a health hazard.

According to my podiatrist, my shoes did not cause my bunions--I can thank heredity for that--but they exacerbated the problem. And I am far from alone. The overwhelming majority of bunion sufferers are women--some podiatrists say the ratio of women to men is 9 to 1--because men are more likely to make practical, sensible shoe choices. Poorly fitting shoes also may lead to hammertoes (when toes curl down), corns (thickened skin), neuroma (when two bones rub together and pinch a nerve), and plantar fasciitis (heel pain). In a 2003 survey of women by the American Podiatric Medical Association, 73 percent reported experiencing physical problems from wearing shoes.

From now on, my podiatrist pronounced, I am to wear customized orthotic inserts with arch support in all my shoes, sandals, and boots. He did not recommend surgery, although many bunion sufferers do go under the knife. In a haze over the enormous expense of custom orthotics--which insurance companies do not reimburse--I was delayed in my realization that I was in for a big lifestyle change. Trendy shoes, especially sandals, do not accommodate orthotics. I've never been a fashion plate but I certainly never expected that before hitting midlife I would be cruising the grandma aisle at the shoe store.

I've had a few months now to scope out the selection of footwear called "comfort shoes." In truth, the choices aren't quite that limited. Many companies now create shoes with support that aren't ugly and some that are even a little cute. Many shoes also have insoles that can be removed, creating space for orthotics. I do wear high heels without orthotics once or twice a week, but only for a few hours at a time and I never do serious walking in them.

Pluck and wax if you must. But choose your shoes wisely; don't let ill-fitting shoes cut off the circulation of blood to your brain.

Comments

[ladyv]

In my experience, the real reason so many women suffer through horrific footwear is that most of us are too fat to wear expensive clothes properly, so we focus on shoes and bags instead. And yes, I include myself in this.

[OtayPanky]

In some way or other, this MUST be the fault of the patriarchy.

This too:

http://tinyurl.com/6s23xr

[LeoraTanenbaum]

Anyone want to recommend good shoe brands?

Since I've had to start wearing orthotics I've been wearing Naot sandals. Many of the styles have removable insoles. You can remove them entirely or cut them away to make space for orthotics.

I'd love to hear what the rest of you recommend.

[gfk]

I like Aerosoles, Easy Spirit and believe it or not, lower heeled Christian Louboutin. Munro also makes some cute, comfy walking shoes. If men had to wear them, high heels wouldn't exist. Neither would panty hose.

[TucsonEd]

Earth shoes, Avias for athletic shoes and for hiking Vasque.

[BlackJAC]

I've been saying it for years: whoever designs women's footwear should be death-marched in the things across the entire length of the Pacific Coast Highway. I will NEVER understand the need to place form ahead of function in clothing. My high school had a dress code which forbade sneakers, but we had to walk between multiple outdoor buildings between classes and for lunch, and one day my mother tried to foist shoes with what amounted to foam soles despite my insistence that I needed solid rubber soles.

[RobinSeattle]

This man prefers his women barefoot. I also prefer myself that way. Women shouldn't have to contort their legs to be hot. Natural is best.

[LeoraTanenbaum]

Believe it or not, even walking barefoot can be harmful for some people's feet, as DeeDon says below. I know it sounds crazy but it's true. Natural is not always best.

[Gwen86]

I absolutely love going barefoot, especially in the summer. I still wear uncomfortable heels on occasion, but I recover the next day by taking a nice long walk barefoot, or by wearing minimalist shoes that feel like going barefoot. Some may say going barefoot is bad for you, but if it was fine for human beings over the last 200,000 years, it's fine for me too.

[RadCenter]

I would love to see an episode of "What Not to Wear" in which Stacy London has a podiatric exam. She should be tried for crimes against womankind for pushing pointy-toed heels on her unfortunate makeover victims.

The result of such insane fashion advice? My hairdresser's daughter just had to have bunion surgery on both feet. And she's only about 22 years old!

[recruitgal]

Well said. I watch my boss tottering around in 4 inch heels every day, and the woman constantly looks like she is in agony. I might not look as chic, but I'm cute and comfy in my flats... Might be uncool, but I value my extremities. :o)

[DeeDon]

Amen, Sister... I suffer from Plantar Fasciitis- heel pain that feels like walking on a pebble embedded in your heel. My days of smokin' hot shoes are definitely behind me now (although like you I can wear them for a short time), and I miss them, but I also miss kicking off my shoes and padding around barefoot all summer. Even going barefoot is not good for your feet, I found out.
Of course, now shoe shopping has turned into a perverse opposite of bargain hunting- I spend a lot of time looking for my shopping 'prize' but generally pay a lot more for it! Good shoes are not cheap. There are shoes out there with support that are okay looking, some even bordering on cute. I would advise anyone reading this post who hasn't developed foot problems to start taking care of your feet NOW. Be sure that the majority of the time you are wearing shoes that are good for your feet- invest in some quality shoes and wear them more often than the sexy but painful ones. I guarantee you don't appreciate your tootsies until they hurt!