The fact is, sometimes it's hard to walk in a single woman's shoes. That's why we need really special ones now and then to make the walk a little more fun.
-- Jenny Bicks, Sex and the City, A Woman's Right To Shoes, 2003
Everything I know about women, I learned from Sex And The City. This explains a lot about me.
--
Pascal said:
Women's shoes are SO uncomfortable, anyway. Even if you're a woman.
I don't want a woman to endure pain just because she thinks I'll find her more pretty with suffering. Have some spine, ladies! (And high heeled shoes are BAD for your spine, trust me, I'm a Doctor.)
One of the girls from back in school said that using heels all the time had made her archilles tendon too short for regular shoes. She was around sixteen!
It's idiotic: the purpose of high heels is to make the calf muscle more prominent. But many women wear heels even when wearing pants or a long dress.
I've never worn a tie in my life, practically, and I'm sure it's not half as uncomfortable as heels.
Bare woman's feet - soooo sexy!
ReplyDeleteWith the right shoes on them (or boots) can make them even more sexy.
But then comes "Darling, I'd like to go shopping for new shoes".....
LoL!
Sidenote: I like to accompany my spouse on that!!
"Everything I know about women, I learned from Sex And The City."
ReplyDeleteSophie Tucker:- "From birth to age 18 a girl needs good parents; from 18 to 35 she needs good looks; from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality; and from 55 on she needs cash."
Rita Rudner:- "I got kicked out of ballet class because I pulled a groin muscle. It wasn't mine."
LOL, the Tucker thing is good.
ReplyDeleteYou still know more about women than me. Never watched Sex And The City.
ReplyDelete(Well, I never watched the City, at any rate. Streets and buildings? Bah!)
"Streets and buildings? Baa!" - (Sheep in The Big City)
Women's shoes are SO uncomfortable, anyway. Even if you're a woman.
I don't want a woman to endure pain just because she thinks I'll find her more pretty with suffering. Have some spine, ladies! (And high heeled shoes are BAD for your spine, trust me, I'm a Doctor.)
"The average girl would rather have beauty than brains because she knows the average man can see much better than he can think." Well then, I guess I don't like to be an average man.
But is it really exceptional, to think normally??? :-(
I've always said it : healthy is beautiful. And unhealthy, I always find anti-attractive.
I see no fundamental difference between the feet deformations caused by Western shoes of torture and by bandages in traditional China. I don't even care for make-up, most of the time!
A pretty, healthy woman will still look good in the morning, when she opens her eyes. Because it's not about accessories.
And if she's got the ravaged looks from the stigmas of a whole sleepless night of animalistic lovemaking, I'm sure it won't bother me. :-)
"because I pulled a groin muscle. It wasn't mine."
I guess there's no point in hoping you meant "it wasn't mime"...
Any kind of shoes are the devil's work. They're uncomfortable at first, and about a week after they've been walked in, they're worn out. Barefoot is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteYes, women's shoes are idiotically uncomfortable. And someone had the wise idea of raising money for a charitable cause because of that fact ...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.walkamileinhershoes.org/
"using heels all the time had made her archilles tendon too short for regular shoes."
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I don't know whether it's a change in the base length of the muscle or the tendon itself [much more likely to be the calf muscle], but the result is the same. Absurdly problematic, very foolish.
Besides, I read this excellent advice in a women's magazine: "You want pretty, curved calves? Do it the safe and healthy way: WALK."
Walking, in a normal fashion, makes for very nice legs. Not to brag in front of the ladies present, but I love walking, and it shows. I think if the top matched the bottom, I'd be a hunk.
"I've never worn a tie in my life, practically, and I'm sure it's not half as uncomfortable as heels."
I have. On a daily basis for 6 months, strict dress code in one of my internships.
If you don't make it too tight, you almost forget it after a while. It's mainly contact pressure on your shirt's collar.
Not that I recommend wearing a tie all the time in daily life. That hanging knot... I mean, that knot with hanging ends, not very safe to keep around your neck. There HAVE been many necktie accidents, and not only in movies.
I remember reading this in a book of the martial arts series The Destroyer (quite entertaining, often humorous, made in USA, buy and read it): "Once, two Sinanju Masters dueled to decide which would be the sole Master. One of them wore a belt on his kimono. Thirty seconds later, that belt was around his neck, and he was dead. From that day on, Sinanju Masters never wore a belt."
Of course, it helps to note that Sinanju is the milleniae-old Martial Art of all martial arts, the Source, and can turn anything into a deadly weapon, even an unloaded revolver or a down feather.
But my point is, a wise person avoids calling danger close to him/herself. You think women don't get frequent ankle sprains from walking perched atop those high heels? Think again.
Platform shoes don't similarly affect the length of the calves if horizontal, but they are just as dangerous for the joints, and significantly risky for the spine.
Anon makes a darnedly relevant point: the human body is amazingly adapted to bipedal locomotion. Let's respect that natural perfection. Wear soles for protection against sharp obstacles lying around, sure, why not. (Although walking barefoot is very healthy when the weather and terrain are right.) A conventional shoe heel to dampen the shocks, allowing you to walk a lot longer without being bothered by tired knees? Sure. Thermic protection when it gets colder than in our native Africa? Be my guest. But keep it functional, practical. Shun the superfluous and the futile.
It's been established that wearing air cushion shoes for daily life (they were designed to help in intensive sports with a lot of jumping) actually makes the feet lazy from excessive comfort, and the plantar foot muscles tend to atrophiate. Superfluous and futile... and nefarious.
Mocassins, also known in the US as loafers, are closely inspired from the traditional footwear of Native Americans. Which, essentially, were slipper-like leather envelopes protecting the foot, while leaving it free with its natural movements. "Red Indians" were also notorious for being tireless on-foot travelers, whether by walking or jogging. Not a coincidence.
Except on rare formal occasions or a rainy day, I wear nothing but mocassins, they're SO healthily comfy and natural. And I'm very happy with the health state of my feet.
Remo Williams, the Destroyer, Sinanju Master-in-training, wears nothing but loafers. ;-)
There's this French expression, "being comfy in one's shoes", meaning being in harmony with oneself. "In one's shoes" has always been a metaphor for the whole life, be it one's own or trying out another person's. I'm not a shoe fetishist of any kind, and I only grant moderate importance to pretty, healthy feet [like all body parts, okay maybe a little more], but you have to admit, they're the foundation of our life journey. Yes, literally. And also symbolically.
Love your body, and let your body love you. Never let one mistreat the other to please the tyrannical narrow views (or "beauty canons") of someone else. If you're a believer, ponder that God created beauty, and the human body, and that there's no improving a perfect design.
I'm viscerally against all body modifications that aren't clearly warranted for a medical reason. That includes bandaging the feet in traditional China. And circumcision as well. Enough with that arrogant mentality that you know better than God/Nature! Systematic removal of the appendix? Bad. Of the tonsils? Bad. Of the foreskin? Bad. Of the female clitoris and/or vulva? Not bad : abominable. Silicone boobies NOT after cancer surgery? Pathetic. Piercings? Go all the way, no biggie, you already have a hole in your head.
No, I'm not overdoing it. Fall and scrape your bare skin, ouch. Have it filled with metal bits that can get caught anywhere... picture it for yourself. It's no accident if bulls get a ring fit in their noses, it's for controlling them through a sensitive part. Not to mention how unhygienic some locations may be: [NSFW, explicit]
Tattoos? Well, better find a VERY reliable and clean artist with impeccable needles, and then check out the chemical composition of those pigments that are about to go under your skin.
Keep it natural, use basic sense. It's simple, really. You don't need to change your body if you're self-confident.
Beard shaving, hair cutting, nail clipping: actually, those aren't exactly body modifications, these are DESTINED to grow on one end and get short at the other. But remember why there are so few women polar explorers: frozen breath moisture on a thick beard and mustache provide vital insulation from minus-60 temperatures.
As I've said before, I don't even care for make-up.
First, because a healthy face should be beautiful with no need for artificial help.
And then, because those cosmetics are a catastrophe. Wrinkle cream essentially makes your skin addicted to it, lazy, unable to remain fresh by its own when you stop using what you accustomed it to. Just like the air cushion shoe effect. And eye shading, lipstick, mascara, all that clanking paraphernalia? They're chemical, sneakily aggressive to the skin. Web search images on "Brigitte Bardot", and compare her prime with the Michael Jackson-like nightmarish old hag she's become. [No bull, that's the SAME WOMAN.] That, my feminine friends, is what abuse of "beauty products" will make to you. Still feeling eager to paint up?...
Heck, I'm not even sure about deodorant. With all the synthetic, possibly cancerous stuff they put in it these days... I've ceased using synthetic musk ones, even though the scent really went well with my skin type.
Look at nuns. They keep away from the sun (UVs beyond a reasonable dose also accelerate the aging of the skin), and they NEVER put make-up. As a result, the very old ones still retain a surprisingly fresh skin. As fresh as my mother, who was always complimented by our women neighbors for looking so young.
Not smoking also helps a great deal...
I have a blog post buried somewhere about Bardot and cosmetics. For some distant future...