Me and my girlfriend got onto the topic of heels.
I can’t remember why.
A quick Google later, we discovered heels were first worn by Persian soldiers in the 10th century to lock their feet into horse stirrups while shooting arrows.
Heels also signalled status and power.
And stopped people from stepping in horse sh*t.
But now, of course, heels are mainly worn by women — often reluctantly — as fashion pieces.
According to Google, women first wore heeled shoes to project authority and a higher social standing.
Much later, as this BBC article explains, high heels were used as an excuse to keep the vote out of reach for women.
“During the fight for suffrage towards the end of the 19th century, high heels were weaponised against women who wanted the vote. Opponents of suffrage argued that high heels were evidence of women’s frivolity, with an 1871 New York Times article reading, ”Show us first the woman who has independence and sense… enough to dress attractively… in shoes which do not destroy both her comfort and her gait”.
Stuff like this fascinates me.
You realise innocuous choices can have far-reaching butterfly effects that span hundreds of years.
Seems like a powerful reason to write online.