Are High Heels Right For
You?
The choice of whether or not to wear high
heeled shoes will depend on your tastes
and your audience. Given the research
above, if you want to attract a man,
persuade a man, or get his help with
something, then you may want to consider
a high heel shoe to do the job. Even in a
business setting, you may get the
agreement of more of the men in the room
with high heels on.
However, it is important to realize that the
persuasive effect of high heels does seem
to be connected to their to the opposite
sex. So wearing high heels does not seem
to influence other women (unless you bond
with them over a shared taste in shoes).
Furthermore, if you would rather not use
this type of influence to get unwanted
attention from men, then heels might not
be the way to go.
Overall, though, there does not seem to be
a negative response to wearing high heels
from other women, nor is there an overly
overt sexual response from men.
Therefore, if you are in doubt, you might
want a medium heel for a date or business
meeting.
dropped her glove 93% of the time,
versus 62% for a woman in flats. Here
too, the shoes had no effect on other
women's helping behavior; they
consistently reported the dropped glove
just 43-52% of the time.
In the fourth and final experiment, the
female assistants were sent into a bar
wearing different heel lengths. The
experimenter measured how long it took
for the women to be approached by men,
depending on the shoes that they wore.
Men again were swayed by a woman in
high heels: The women wearing the
highest heel were generally approached
by a man around 8 minutes after
entering a bar, as opposed to 14 minutes
for a woman in flats.
Overall then, not only does a woman in
high heels appear to be more
influential...she is more alluring as well.
Who knew shoes could be so influential?
Not only do they significantly increase
the amount of attention a woman gets
from men in a bar; they also make men
more compliant to requests, and more
helpful, too. If a woman is looking to
increase her social or professional
response from men, wearing heels could
help.
Shoe History: The Early Years
Greek women adopted the trend, taking the wedge heel to new
Our early ancestors didn’t concern themselves with stilettos or
applauded. Still, being unshod was the norm in Grecian culture
the spring collection of Manolos. In all likelihood, they went
(from Wikipedia): Athletes in the Ancient Olympic Games
barefoot. Shoes in the form of sandals emerged around 9,000
participated barefoot—and naked. Even the Gods and heroes
years ago as a means of protecting bare feet from the elements
were primarily depicted barefoot, and the hoplite warriors
(specifically, frostbite) (3). The Greek