On the feet
Women have long bemoaned the unfair and sexist norms that require many of us to wear heels at the office – from the physical discomfort of having to work in stilettos for hours, to the misogynistic tropes that get projected on to women who wear high heels, especially in male-dominated spaces.
Finally, though, there’s new research to validate those experiences. To find out how heels really affect women’s careers, University of North Carolina professor Sreedhari Desai and her team conducted a series of studies looking at how people evaluated women in a variety of work settings. These scenarios included leading a class, giving a presentation, interviewing for a job, and taking part in a negotiation, with the only variable being whether the woman was wearing high heels or flats.
The results? Women wearing flats were deemed more capable and prepared, and earned higher evaluations from both men and women in their 20s through their 50s.
It’s not really surprising, is it. What messages do high heels send? What do they suggest? What do they look like? Not things like capable and prepared, but rather sexy plus hobbled. They don’t actually suggest work attire at all, yet they’re mandated in many work places. The same applies to skirts, by the way – they’re not very practical and they’re the opposite of protective.
There’s truly no winning. On the one hand, women working in corporate jobs, retail and the hospitality industry are often required to wear heels as part of their dress code. It’s a norm that’s built on centuries of dressing women according to the male gaze, and forcing them to subscribe to misogynistic standards of femininity. But, as the study proves, women in heels are also taken far less seriously at work than women who wear flats.
Double bind. You have to dress in a way that will make the rest of us see you as both sexual and weak. Now get to work.
Quite honestly I had thought this was addressed long ago and such requirements had been eliminated. I am surprised to see it still exists.
I have never understood heels, especially with the scrunched up toes at the end. The heels break off easily, and then the pair needs to be replaced. I don’t know how many women have complained to me about spinal, leg, and foot pain due to their shoes.
It’s a form of foot binding. Not as drastic as the Chinese version, but still bad.
Where I work, it is rare to see women in heels, at least below the administration level. But when I used an attorney that was female, she wore tight straight skirts and heels. It seems to be the sort of costume expected of female attorneys, but I suspect it hobbles them in more ways than one. It might incline a jury to think of the attorney as less capable than her male counterparts, and affect the outcome of the case. It would be interesting to see a study done on that…do women in heels lose more cases than women in flats?
It’s hard for me to see how a job requirement that women wear high heels would survive a legal challenge. It’s blatant sex discrimination with no colorable connection to job qualifications or performance.
@4 well you might be surprised.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/21/women-heels-makeup-guidance-sexist-dress-codes
guest, that’s an interesting article. I notice the reference to similar codes for men, and the statement that these can’t exist. A lot of men I know think having to wear a tie is exactly equal to having to wear high heels because ties are uncomfortable and restraining. I imagine they are; I wear scarfs routinely, and don’t tie them tight because they become uncomfortable and restraining.
But…ties do not hobble men. They are still able to move around fast and easy. Ties do not hold the threat of lasting impairment, while high heel shoes do. Ties do not make a man be perceived as less competent and able.
And don’t get me wrong, I think there is very little justification for requiring ties in most businesses. A simple dress code that we are expected to dress professionally (with exactly what that means depending on our profession) would suffice. In short: no pajamas, no sweats, no t-shirts with snarky sayings, etc. I am fortunate that my job has no particular dress code. We dress according to our preferences and our position. For instance, while I dress business casual, the welding instructor dresses in overalls. We are both dressed professionally, but would not be if we switched clothes.
If a man claims his tie is uncomfortable and restraining, then he’s either not tying it correctly, or his shirt collar is too tight, and he needs to accept that he’s not a skinny twenty-something any more, and buy his shirts with bigger collars.
tigger, I sort of suspect that is just a “well, men have it at least as rough as women” excuse. What about the men? Yeah, what about them?
It’s sort of like a friend of mine who said women have it better than men because they can wear a wider range of colors and styles. I told him show up in a pink tutu, and I would support his right to wear it. Men can wear most colors now; the people I usually see wearing pink around campus (among staff and faculty; all bets are off with students) are men.
High-heeled shoes, on the other hand, are abominations which hobble a woman, and cause long-term damage; not only to her feet, but all the other joints in her legs PLUS her pelvis and spine.
If a two- or three-piece suit is required apparel for the men (and, with one notable exception, I think men look good in suits) then there is no reason on Earth why it can’t be required apparel for the women. It would also help women survive the low temperature in offices, which seems to be set for the comfort of men in suits.
Yay! I’m finally a notable exception!
And is still too hot for me. I ran my fan in the office all winter.
I’ve taken horse-related exams and competed wearing a tie. Literally shovelled shit, hauled stuff around, got on and off horses, jumped a course of show jumps etc. Not once has the tie bothered me. If the tie is tighter than the shirt collar then the collar will be scrunched up, and who doesn’t notice that when they are doing their tie? Tigger is right, buy shirts that fit. And if the collar is too small then that’s what’s uncomfortable, tie or no tie. I would add that if someone isn’t capable of getting their shirt and tie combo right, that should disqualify them from that job. A rule that could save us all a lot of bother if Trump runs for president again (or latsot for prime minister ;D)
I’ve always tended to completely ignore work dress codes. Nobody has ever dared to tell me off about it.
That’s probably partly because of the industries I’ve worked in, where dress codes are uncommon anyway but probably partly because everyone knows I’d make them explain and justify the dress code in excruciating detail and then continue to ignore it anyway.
When my wife first started working at her solicitors firm around 20 years ago there was a dress code for women but not for men. No heels, but skirts and tights were compulsory and some other details about makeup and jewellery. I’m glad to say that when she became a partner she abolished all that. There was no maternity clause in the partnership agreement, either, although there were two other female partners at the time. She changed that, too. Kind of badass, considering the horrifying sexism of all the other partners (elderly, male English country solicitors).
Ah the curse of memory. Decades back there was one of those ‘studies’ which suggested that women walking in heels were perceived as ‘more efficient’ than unhampered women. The distorted clacking had crept into the ‘businesslike’ affect when subjects watched film of walking women, seen from the ankle up.
Re ties: I’ve never thought putting a noose around my neck was a good way to start the day.
Re high heel shoes: I haven’t tried wearing them but they look uncomfortable. Worse than ties.
I don’t understand the notion of high heels as ‘sexy’. To the extend that I check out women’s feet I think they look better either bare or in low heel footwear. Likely related to ‘athletic = attractive’ as far as I’m concerned.
Jim, there’s a meme I wish I could insert here, but here’s a link (hopefully)…
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/f5/f512ff9bee084263df5571d3c81388019dcb063173e1dbcfa2babac9274576b6.jpg
(1) There are some who find feet sexually attractive and this is apparently enhanced by ‘sexy’ shoes. I don’t see it personally.
(2) High heels make women appear taller, which some are into.
(3) Heels, especially stiletto types make women walk in a very hip swinging gliding kind of way so they don’t fall over. Draws the eye to the hips and deemphasises any stride that could be considered masculine like.
(4) By pointing the toes downward and raising the heel the calf muscle is shortened and given a smoother contour. Thus the leg appears longer, more slender, and less muscular.
Whether any or all of the above is sexy depends on social fashion and individual preference I guess.