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Fri, 7 August 2009 BBC Breakfast
Summary
Stiletto heels are a danger to women's health and should be banned from the workplace, according to the TUC. They argue that high heels are demeaning to women and cause long-term injuries.
Lorraine Jones, Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, told BBC Breakfast, "What the motion actually is that came from the TUC, it isn't about banning high heels but it is about giving women in the workplace a choice as to what they wear
on the shop floor. There are employers who stipulate or mandate that their female employees must wear a court shoe or a high heel within the workplace as part of their dress code. Now if you're on the shop floor for
eight hours a day on a hard floor in a high heel it's very, very uncomfortable. So we're saying to employers where you are not giving the women the choice about what they wear
there should be the choice of a healthy option.
"With a high heel, the higher the heel the more pressure that goes to the ball of the foot through the joints. For example, with a 5cm heel, which is a very commonly worn one, the
pressure increases by about 52% with every step and up to 8cm it's about 79%.
"We're saying it's women's right to choose what shoes we wear. What we're trying to do is
raise awareness of the benefit of allowing a woman in the workplace to have a choice over what she wears for comfort. If you give women a choice ... they can be free of pain on a daily basis. In society we have so many expectations on us as women that we have to look attractive, we have to wear shoes that look petite and sexy. We continually perpetuate how society expects us to look.
TUC Congress:
2009 Motion - high heels
Other articles:
Soc Chiropodists & Podiatrists 12-Aug-2009
Categories: Heel pain , Work Wear, Footwear, Footnote
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