Sunday, September 23, 2012

OMG those high heels

I never thought that I would write any post on this subject, but here it is. The high heels, which females wear, you see them everywhere, teenage girls, women, old ladies all of them wear them or I should say forced to wear them. This force is not any physical force, it's the indirect force similar to what makes people drink Coke and other soft drinks instead of water, similar one what makes people believe fairer skin is more beautiful compared to dark. It's an indirect pressure created by aggressive marketing and stereotyping of the concept of beauty. Nowadays the height of a lady doesn't depend on how tall is she naturally but on how tall high heels she can wear, and the pressure of looking tall is very serious there are not many females who can escape this pressure. Push is really strong and has created a huge market for footwear. 

It's being propagated widely that tall looks complement the beauty. It's a plain lie because beauty depends on many factors and height is one of them (in a similar way where they say fairer skin is better or more beautiful than darker skin, a single factor can not be responsible for being beautiful). It seems that looking tall makes women feel confident or if they are already confident it boosts their confidence. So, for women who are not naturally tall only option to feel confident is to wear those high heels, and if you look around you can see that this propaganda is working and people do really believe in this. I am sure wearing these high heels beyond a certain height must have certain disadvantages or health risks associated with it but ladies are willing to wear them despite all risks. I wonder what is forcing them? Peer pressure, social pressure, stereotyping tallness as an integral part of beauty, or feeling of missing out? 

One thing I should accept is that it really amazes me beyond limits when I see all these ladies wearing high heels and walking comfortably.  Let me tell you that it's not at all that easy, I was so curious about it that I tried and I can barely stand wearing them forget about walking and these ladies not only walk but dance, and climb steps. This is just phenomenal. I thought that waxing (by which they remove unwanted body hair) was the only torture modern women voluntarily accept to look beautiful but I think the pain of waxing is nothing compared to this continuous balancing act that they have to perform with these high heels.

I am not against any of these things, it's totally up to women to decide what they like to wear and how they want to present themselves. However, I feel sad when I see womanhood, femininity, or beauty getting stereotyped like this. I wish at least a few of them to stand up and say 'Hey it's not necessary to wear those towers to look beautiful, short or tall, fair or dark everything is beautiful.' I am sure some women are there who don't care about these things but I think they are in the minority and most of them succumb to the pressure of making themselves presentable as per the latest fashion trend. I know that this is not a big social issue but this is not only about high heels or fairness creams but about the stereotyping the beauty and I hope people understand it.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

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