High Heels, Oscar's Red Carpet and Research

I have to admit that I really wonder about what young women are wearing on their feet these days. I was at a shoe repair shop the other day to buy some laces, and a darling gal put two pairs of shoes on the counter to be fixed. She told the repairman that the heels, which were at least six inches high, needed fixing. When she wears these shoes, her feet have to feel like they're in toe (ballet) shoes.

Now I've heard that sometimes when these wearers take their shoes off, they can't get their heels to touch the floor. I can only groan and think of the ancient Chinese custom of foot-binding, where little girls' feet were tightly bound to make them look small and dainty. They did this to please the men in their lives and ended up being crippled for life;  I wouldn't be surprised if the same fate awaits the most avid heel-wearers.

I was actually delighted to hear that one of the Oscar night celebrities posed for pictures in her (extremely) high heels, then took them off as soon as she could, and spent the rest of the evening walking around in her bare feet! Did you catch that moment?

I know that I am not the only one wondering about this phenomenon. The medical profession is even talking about the damage that these shoes are causing, along with flip flops, a shoe fashion that returns every summer. Both kinds of shoes negatively affect posture and can even have an effect on your nerves. I'm not surprised that this is the case. If your feet hurt, you generally hurt all over, and the pain could extend to your insides. There are people trained today who can diagnose more serious internal problems by testing parts of a person's feet. Best we all pay attention to them.

And that's not all - doctors are now speaking out about the tight jeans that women wear. They say that if you have to jump up and down to struggle into them, they're too tight and may be causing damage to leg nerves and other structures. 

Here's my memo to all women, young and old alike: Paying attention to how all our body parts feel and how they're functioning is vital in maintaining our overall health as we get older, and it serves to prevent unnecessary physical problems. And if we're paying attention to what our bodies are telling us, then at what point do we finally stop dressing to impress others? When we come to realize that we're hurting ourselves by being endlessly seduced by the fashion parade in the media, what will it take to stop?