Come on guys, leave the high heels for the girls....

Firefox · 28th January 2002, 04:57

This subject was raised by Laurie in another thread, but I thought it merited a thread all of its own.

Which side of the fence do you fall on? Does the increasing freedom in society mean that the guys are trespassing on the girl's territory. Does the fact that men might wear high heels mean that the mystique of a woman in them is somehow compromised? Should some things be set aside for society for the sole use of women to express their feminine identity? On the other hand, did women give up that "right" when they claimed many male such as jeans or business suits for regular wear themselves? Can, or should we ever go back to the 1950's where to wear fashions outside what was imposed, was seen as a fair reason for ostracism by society?

This subject has caused controversy on the boards before, but I'm sure we can debate it in a reasoned manner without things getting out of hand. In the end, some of us are probably going to disagree, but at least we will have listened each others' arguments

Trolldeg · 28th January 2002, 08:24

Since terms like 'feminine-' or 'masculine-' identitys are just social roles that opress us all in some way, their destruction can only be a good thing. I still find girls mysterious and exiting, even though I wear the highest heels in school.

Anonymous · 28th January 2002, 15:02

Quote "On the other hand, did women give up that "right" when they claimed many male such as jeans or business suits for regular wear themselves?"

That sums it up for me. In today's world of equality, women hold powerful positions in business or politics, and good luck to to them. That success is deserved. But they can't have everything. Equality means just that, and the men should have equal rights to express themselves with their appearance however they choose. Any woman who says otherwise is just being selfish.

Calv · 28th January 2002, 18:42

I have seen a post today on another board (Chris's Atrium) which says that as men (not us though) tend to shun anything remotely feminine they are slowly losing the freedom to wear more and more clothes without standing out from the common herd. Think about it, once a fashion is accepted as being feminine men no longer accept it, and those that do are labelled as strange by the masses.

An example of this is high heeled boots. In the 1970's these were unisex styles. This time round they are purely feminine styles. Why? who decided.

Another example was published in todays UK papers - It has been suggested in Germany that chancellor Gerhard Schroeder dies his hair - shock horror. Why should this be an issue, when a large proportion of the female race die their hair with nothing said.

Double standards here.

jim · 29th January 2002, 11:33

Quote:

Come on guys, leave the high heels for the girls....

(choke).. never!

IHeels · 31st January 2002, 12:08

Hey guys, I've probably said this before I dont have a problem with guy's wearing heels, but they have to be able to walk in them properly not just clump around. Walking properly requires suppleness, most guys don't have this. (especially at first - just might stir up some conversation here)
As to wearing jeans, if worn properly these can be used to great effect to highlight femininity how one ask's, by wearing - the only way ultra tight (I wear many of my skirts that way also). In all, the world (western) is a bit more casual now than it was 50 years ago.

Inga

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: IHeels on 2002-01-31 12:14 ]</font>

xaphod · 2nd February 2002, 01:11

Suppleness comes from practice in wearing heels. You will see teenage girls with their first 3" heels 'clumping around'. Now, for some guys, they are starting their hh practice later in life, so they don't have the suppleness of young limbs. They will take longer to adjust.

I've been wearing heels inside since I left home in 1974. Some of the early shoes were a little crazy, but, thankfully, the style settled down a bit.

For outside wearing, I started out a little differently from most, wearing cowboy boots with a 2.5" heel when this was relatively mainstream style for guys. For another few years I wore Bertulli lifts, which rated about 3/10 compared with a decent pair of 4" blocks.

So when I started wearing heels outside in the Autumn of '98, I already had a certain amount of practice and flexibility.

A couple of days ago, wearing a pair of 4.5" spiky sachas, I was complimented on the way I walked in them, admittedly by a couple of shop assistants who were trying to sell me MORE shoes.

jbmajoor · 3rd February 2002, 01:16

It is good when you post messages from the other side. But I disagree with this opinion "high heels are only for girls". History will learning us that men always wear heels. Heels were a symbol of upperclass in the Louis XIV-period. In the 70s, block heels under men's shoes were widely availble. You can see it when you see old color-TV recordings.

And, why have the writer of this opinion the right to say this is for men and this is for women. It sounds like "my freedom ends when freedom from another people begins". I don't like this thoughts, wear what you like, espacially what you like very much.

Charlie · 3rd February 2002, 02:08

I have to say that I totally agree with Calv's assesment of the entire situation. There is no "fashion God" who dictates daily what us men can wear. Our worst enemy is ourselves! It is the fear of any hint of femininity that drives men's fashions closer and closer to wearing only burlap bags and workboots! I think the vast majority of us guys can recall having that horrible "feminine" label being used against us by our fathers whenever they thought we should be a bit tougher. That's where this mindset starts.

Charlie

Firefox · 3rd February 2002, 02:25

My experience is that girls are generally quite cool with the idea. That's because it is misinterepreted by some misguided people (of both sexes) as something that gays do whereas it is nothing to do with sexuality and the guys that wear are mostly het, the same as the population is mostly het. However, there are more homophobe men than there are homophobe women so more men take a more negative attitude.

(a)They are wrong about the gay thing, and (b) They are homophobes as well. One has to pity these poor people.