Pen-Elayne on the Web

Too Big for One's Britches

Christine Cupaiuolo at Ms. Musings has been on a real tear since she returned from her recent access-problem-imposed hiatus. This entry intrigued me quite a bit - it's about women who have their feet medically mutilated in order to fit into the latest trendy shoes. What creeps me out the most are the quotes from Dr. Suzanne Levine, a staunch advocate of these procedures which net her big bucks to perform. "Some of these women invest more in their shoes than they do in the stock market...Take your average woman and give her heels instead of flats, and she'll suddenly get whistles on the street. I do everything I can to get them back into their shoes." I'm sorry, is getting whistles on the street suddenly a welcome occurrence?

The article is probably pretty graphically shocking but, sadly, nothing terribly new in our culture. They briefly mention the AOFAS Council on Women's Footwear survey which found "almost 90 percent wore shoes too small for feet and that about 80 percent had foot problems. Most women wear shoes a width to two width sizes too small. As a result, many suffer from bunions, hammertoes, bunionettes, corns and other disabling foot problems." But to me, this is symptomatic of a much wider problem, one that has every bit as much to do with female self-image and fear of fat as it does with the contempt many fashion designers and retailers have for the actual human body. I'm sure it happens with men as well, but my guess is that it's far more pervasive with women - after all, part of male socialization is acceptance of "bigger equals stronger equals good" whereas female socialization is usually the opposite (the more petite and diminuitive and childlike the better). There have been all sorts of surveys - here's one from Australia, for instance - done on body shapes and dress/underwear sizes that have found an alarming percentage of women wearing clothing too small for them. In an age when you think we'd have left corsets behind, far too many women still wear clothes that restrict their breathing! As the AOFAS survey page says, the only real solution to this sort of thing is to make, sell and buy comfortable, sensible and roomy clothing, which requires the cooperation of manufacturers, sellers and buyers. Unfortunately, for the moment it seems as though all three sides of this eternal triangle are cooperating to the detriment of women's health.

Update: More from Echidne, my favorite new goddess-blogger (thanks for telling us about her, Ampersand!) and, in my opinion (and pun unintended), a shoo-in for this week's New Blog Showcase for her December 4 post (link currently Bloggered, you may have to scroll down) skewering this article. Although she is up against clonecone at It's Craptastic for his What is the Point? entry, and the Clonester is a fellow Liberal Coalition member... hmm, maybe you should wait a week, Echidne. ;) Me, I'm hedging my bets, as you can see, since I've just voted for/linked to both. ;)