Shoes, a.k.a Torture Device (Wordless Wednesday)
I received this from a reader via email.
I am rarely left speechless, but this photo did it.
Just confusion, and lots of different words swirling around in my head.
Progress. Freedom. Feminism. Body image.
Chronic back pain.
Thanks, Noa. 
Posted for Wordless Wednesday
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betty responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 7:51 am →
WOAH. no thanks. I’ll stick to my chuck taylors lol
Caroline responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:06 am →
Ach, those make my feet hurt just looking at them!
Marsha (at JustMe1947) responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:13 am →
OUCH! No way would I have ever worn those shoes. I’m 5 foot even in my stocking feet and as much as I wanted to be tall, I could never force myself to wear high heels. My feet hurt bad enough wearing pumps and flats! lol
Happy WW! Join me if you can:
Just Some Thoughts
Beth responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:14 am →
My feet hurt just looking at that picture!
jamie responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:16 am →
it’s so obvious a man designed the first high heel LOL
deb responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:38 am →
Yikes. They can’t be real, can they?!?
Rayne responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:43 am →
How do they expect anyone to walk on these things?
MomGrind responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:48 am →
@ deb: I do hope they are not real. They better not be. The reader who emailed those said they were “the latest rage in Japan”, but I didn’t look into it. My assumption: not real.
Jennifer Robin responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 8:51 am →
Ditto, and ditto. Those hurt just thinking about them!
JEMi | Tips for Life, Love, You responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 9:15 am →
oh…my God…
Suzy responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 9:32 am →
Oh, my aching toes….maybe these are made for ballerinas ?
Liz responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 10:57 am →
What the…and…OWWWWW!
Susan responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 11:01 am →
Yikes! I, too, hope they’re not real.
I’d be flat on my face with my first step wearing those.
Will responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm →
Those are nasty! Legs looked airbrushed too. Why is it that the fact ignored that all of us “normal” men, (90%) of all men, like “normal” women, not some media produce image of “perfection”?
grrr.
Chris responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 12:16 pm →
So is this any different from the countless implants and botox injections?
MomGrind responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 12:21 pm →
@ Will: THANK YOU for saying that. Women need to hear it more often.
@ Chris: in a way, it’s better than surgical procedures. It’s just another way in which women attempt to attain an impossible image. And there’s always a huge price to pay for those attempts.
Amor responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 1:01 pm →
I’ll never wear this kind of shoes even if it comes from a designer :)I can’t imagine the pain that I have to endure using these.Great post.
I’m in a big wooden shoe
happy WW!
Jill responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 4:05 pm →
This is just GROSS.
Golightly responds:
Posted: April 30th, 2008 at 11:37 pm →
Oh. My. Gosh. They can’ t be for real! No way! Insane.
Mycrazylife responds:
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 5:13 am →
Yeah, walking like a ballerina has no appeal to me whatsoever. Oh the lengths women will go to for beauty. Ridiculous!
Ann responds:
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 9:22 am →
wow. no pain, no gain . . . if looking like that is your goal.
Mrs. Micah responds:
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 6:45 pm →
Those look less comfortable than pointe shoes. And I speak from almost 5 years of experience on that front.
Actually, I just don’t wear heels at all. I tried it for a week last summer before I went out and bought perfect flats for work.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 7:47 pm →
@Amor: the first thing I thought when I saw this photo was “pain”.
@ Mrs. Micah: wow, 5 years of ballet. That’s a lot of hard work. I wear heels, sometimes, as long as they are chunky and not too high - otherwise it just feels too wobbly.
missmaryann responds:
Posted: May 5th, 2008 at 8:05 am →
They are real shoes - in last week’s People Magazine (Beautiful people issue) Rumer Willis is wearing a black pair in her picture. They are hideous!
MomGrind responds:
Posted: May 5th, 2008 at 10:14 am →
@ missmaryann: wow. I can’t believe that a designer designed this. I can’t believe that women are wearing this. It is just… sad.
Pinay Jade responds:
Posted: May 6th, 2008 at 7:11 pm →
Woah!!! no thanks I’m gonna break my neck with this one LOL. I am adventurous but this one is way too adventurous;)
magpie responds:
Posted: May 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm →
Ouch.