It’s a High Heeled Nation
So I’m at the bus stop yesterday waiting for the bus, which isn’t a uncommon event in my life here in Russia. It’s actually a very good system of getting around the city, the buses can get overcrowded at times but I’ll save that for another post.
Even Ballerinas would be hurting
What was interesting about this particular event was who walked across in front of me. Here was this relatively short young gal who was wearing 6″ spiked stiletto heels. It wouldn’t even have caught my eye except for the way she was walking. It was really obvious her shoes were uncomfortable. Watching this I realized that anyone wearing them couldn’t walk on their tip toes for very long. Even seasoned ballerinas would have trouble after a while. But this poor young lady was walking in such a fashion I couldn’t tell if she possibly miss-stepped, which direction she would fall. It took a lot of muster not to get up and want to help her along the short jaunt in attempting to climb onto the bus. This entire episode lasted maybe two minutes, but I’ve pondered afterwards why do women in Russia go to such lengths to wear these kinds of shoes. Like this gal was doing to the detriment of her own feet and possible harm.
So, “why all the trouble”?
So it seems my unvoiced, non-acted chivalry may be at the core of why women go to these lengths to wear such apparatus on their feet. It doesn’t matter that it’s -30 C (that’s -22 F), that there’s 15 cm (6″ in.) of snow on the ground, dashing across the cross walk, cobbled or uneven pavement, it doesn’t even matter if it makes her taller then her man. High heeled shoes remain the choice for most Russian women under any and all conditions. So why? It’s connected to the wish that Russian women have, “to look beautiful for their men”. It seems that this image is brought on by the thought, “that a woman has to wear them or their legs won’t look stunning. And knowing first hand, no Russian woman leaves the house without looking absolutely gorgeous. It’s obvious they enjoy being brightly dressed and stylish. It works! So does it end there? Not!
So is this the next Olympic Sport?
Both Moscow and St. Petersburg have had Stiletto races. The winner walks away with a 100,000 rubles shopping voucher. The women who take part in this event have to wear heels that are a min. of 9 cm (3.54 inches) high to take part in this race. The race itself is held by the Russian edition of Glamour magazine, which hosts the contest. The question in my mind is, is this just a Russian phenomenon or will it cross borders? Could women in other countries adopt these ideals and turns things from being a arms races into a legs race. We will see. No matter what this in one race to be at the finish line.
Sources:
Life in Russia 
Well, as a woman I can say that I DO feel more confident and attractive when wearing heels, however, where I live it is steep, cobbled and makes stiletto wearing almost impossible. The best I can do is wear a wedge heel in the evenings but mostly run around in flp-flops or ballet pumps during the day. 🙂
And as a man, I find a woman very attractive when she wears them well. If nothing else to be able to catch them if they fall.
It could work in Eastern Europe – the rest of the world has more sense and respect for themselves. High heels are fine, in their place, but wearing them just to impress men is pathetic.
It’s a different thinking, definitely not a western mentality. What amazes me is how they are able to walk on such uneven pavement. But it’s their culture, and their thinking, in my mind it’s good to respect it. What I didn’t talk about is the fact that the women outnumber the men significantly. Wars have a tendency of creating an imbalance. Personally I was trying to bring a little humor into it and give a different perspective.
No, you did a good job but I see that kind of thing here all the time. It’s all about appearance and clawing down other women, usually for the sake of some worthless guy. And I guess they can do it through years of practice – though I’ve seen a few take pretty nasty tumbles. Nothing sexy about that.
It’s a strange phenomenon for sure. What I don’t get is why most of the men are absolute drunks. Been trying to figure this one out. Must admit I’m a bit stumped.
Because the women are nuts. Possessive, jealous, controlling – brought up with the idea that all men are useless, so eventually the men, even the good ones, give up trying to be anything but. So they drink and cheat and live up, or down, to the women’s expectations.
Nothing drives me nuttier than seeing working women in business attire and tennis shoes-it just doesn’t makes sense. But since Pittsburgh is known for being unstylish it shouldn’t come as a surprise. I love the way I feel in heels.
Oh, this is just the beginning. I have many more stories like this that would fill volumes.
I’ll have to check them out. Now that I’ve finally figured out how to adequately use the reader I’m good to go. Looking forward to more posts like this. 🙂
Have fun.