Stiletto Situation

http://xmb.stuffucanuse.com/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=3749

Stilettos are a timeless fashion necessity for almost all women.  Women believe that high-heeled shoes make them look beautiful and well-dressed, and every female I know owns more than one pair of heels.  Yet no matter how beautiful a woman might feel while wearing her favorite pair of stiletto heels, these shoes are actually quite damaging to a woman's foot.  Though not as extreme as the practice of Chinese foot binding, as shown to the right, stilettos present their own set of foot problems.

http://www.flickriver.com/groups/shoeaholics/pool/interesting/

For example, this stiletto with a seven-inch heel might have a certain amount of sex appeal and glamour associated with it, but my feet hurt by just looking at the steep curve of the sole of the shoe.  I can't imagine walking very far in these shoes because it's essentially the same as walking on the tips of one's toes.  Furthermore, the heel is so thin that it probably doesn't offer much structural support.  This would put a woman's ankles at risk as well.

http://www.theintellectualdevotional.com/blog/2007/09/06/the-early-days-of-x-rays/

While this shoe's original design intent was not to create something that would be dangerous and hazardous to women who actually wear the stiletto, the risk of injury from these shoes outweighs their aesthetic beauty.  An unfortunate consequence of this design, the danger of breaking or spraining one's ankle or causing permanent damage to the foot is difficult to ignore.  This x-ray shows the contorted position of a woman's foot when crammed into a stiletto.

After repeated use of stiletto heels, it seems inevitable that damage would occur in a woman's foot.  Our feet are not meant to be elevated inches off the ground, but rather evolutionarily designed to allow us to walk bipedally to get from one place to another.

Fashion design in our modern society is rooted in pop culture to make a woman feel beautiful, even if it is not practical.  Our culture as a whole places emphasis on women looking well-dressed and elegant at all times, because that is the female stereotype.  It is essentially a woman's social responsibility to uphold this gender stereotype through pieces of designed clothing and accessories such as stiletto heels.