Is it unfeminist to wear high heels? Only if the high heels are shouting up at you: “Oi, Sarah! Women aren’t good for anything but cooking, cleaning and shagging! Go and make us a cup of tea, will you, love?”
Other than that, there’s nothing inherently bad about high heels, just as there isn’t about most clothes. Sure, complaining about how it’s men who decide what’s sexy in a woman and then promptly stripping off to pose for a men’s magazine won’t help feminism and will make you look pretty silly, but let’s let sleeping dogs lie.
What is one person’s embrace of their sexuality is another person’s patriarchal oppression. And you know why that is? Because women aren’t just women – they’re individuals. And individuals have different reactions and needs.
Love how they look good, hate how they feel!
Women are also, by and large, smart enough to tell when they, as individuals, feel elevated or downtrodden by something and whether their feelings come genuinely from themselves or because they have been brainwashed by the patriarchal society.
So, in regards to feminism, while the overall message – equality – is universal, the details (marriage, sexual predilections, high heels) vary from woman to woman.
Feminism gave women the freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives and they can choose whether they want to wear high heels or not!
Wednesday 6th March 2013
Deborah Samson.