What is it about heels? Are they sexy or powerful? Do we love them or loathe them? What do they say about who we are? Can we wear heels and still call ourselves feminists?
Heels in store window display, Venice IT
A couple of weeks ago the five of us met in Toronto on a Friday evening to see Love, Loss and What I Wore. I had already seen it twice! The first time with a friend and colleague, the second time with my husband to take notes as research for my PhD comprehensive exam and this last time with the four other amazing women who are joining me on this blogging journey we are calling Heels or Think?
Heels or Think? is a line taken from Nora & Delia Ephron's play based on Ilene Beckerman's book, Love, Loss and What I Wore, that stuck and resonated with me. You see, I pretty much always wear heels. I don't need to wear heels as I am almost six feet tall, I love and WANT to wear heels. I think, in some weird way it is a form of resistance.
What struck me about the line Heels or Think? is that it assumes that we have to make a choice, or that this is the only choice. Heels or Think? Can we not wear heels and still be considered intelligent and capable? Why is the choice heels or sensible footwear? I will admit that there have been times when part of me wished I was wearing sensible, comfortable footwear. (Like the four days that I stood on polished concrete floors at the Toronto International Art Fair.) However, I never wavered. The secret, I discovered, is not to change into comfortable, sensible shoes, but to change into a new pair of heels!
While heels do that amazing thing to your legs, if you are not used to wearing heels or, I contend, wearing the wrong pair of heels, the pain of balancing your weight on the ball of your foot can make any hope of reasonable, rationale thought impossible. So we are faced with the dilemma - heels or think?
We hope you join us on our journey as we explore, question, comment on and grapple with issues relating to gender, feminism, popular culture, the media, our varied lives and our academic careers.
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