High-heeled shoes and evolution theory.

In summary, women wear high-heeled shoes, such as pumps, to attract taller males. This is due to enormous selection pressure for height in our species, and women wanting a mate as tall or taller than their father. However, it is observed that tall women are more likely to wear high heels, and the reason for this is unclear. Some speculate that it is to make their leg muscles look better, while others suggest it is a societal pressure from fashion magazines. There are also theories that high heels make women appear more helpless and frail, which is considered attractive to men. The evolutionary reason for this behavior is still unknown, but it is clear that high heels serve a purpose in attracting the opposite sex.
  • #1
2112rush2112
21
0
I always speculated that the reason why women wear high-heeled shoes (such as pumps and the like) is they give them an advantage (albeit a deceptive one) in attracting the taller male.

There is enormous selection pressure being imposed on the height of our species, with our species getting taller with each millenia; nay, with each generation. Women just want a mate that's as tall or taller than her father, hence the selection pressure. To this end, I hypothesize, women will wear the high-heeled shoe, because the added increase in her height will make her more attractive to the taller male. The deception no doubt works in both the workplace and the nightclub.

But after further and somewhat tedious observation, I noticed it's the tall women--not the short women--who are likely wearing the high-heeled shoe. Why is this? Three out of every four women I see wearing high-heeled shoes are tall women! I can't figure this one out! Why would an already robust woman want to accentuate a physiological quality that's already somewhat abnormal in appearance?

This thread is directed mostly at the ladies. Ladies, is there something about the high-heeled shoe that your taller friends just don't see? Or are they trying to go from Linebacker to Quarterback deliberately? And what of the shorter-statured womanfolk? Why do they not exploit the advantage of the high-heeled shoe to acquire the taller male?

I am utterly confounded by high-heeled shoes! They must represent something, but what?
 
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  • #2
They make the calf look better.
 
  • #3
I don't think it has anything to do with height. I think they're supposed to imply increased intelligence.

Or at least the ability to solve triple integrals for torque in their head while walking across a parking lot on a windy day. They must be solving these to at least 6 significant digits when you consider they're able to maintain their balance over such a small surface area, even while their center of gravity is constantly shifting as they sashay across the parking lot.
 
  • #4
I think it has to do with how the way the heels make their leg muscles look. I like short women, personally.
 
  • #5
BobG said:
I don't think it has anything to do with height. I think they're supposed to imply increased intelligence.

Or at least the ability to solve triple integrals for torque in their head while walking across a parking lot on a windy day. They must be solving these to at least 6 significant digits when you consider they're able to maintain their balance over such a small surface area, even while their center of gravity is constantly shifting as they sashay across the parking lot.
:rofl::rofl::rofl: please someone put this in the classics! pleeeez this is the best!
 
  • #6
HeLiXe said:
please someone put this in the classics! pleeeez this is the best!

I like it when a woman figuring bolometric magnitudes sashays across the parking lot. :!)
 
  • #7
Jimmy Snyder said:
They make the calf look better.

:rofl: I read... Moooo... a calf. You now owe me one Dell Enhanced Keyboard. This one's full of beer and spit.
 
  • #8
I wear high - heels and I'm a guy. I can tell you that it's not to attract tall men.
 
  • #9
Most women wear ridiculous high heels because that's what the fashion magazines say they have to wear. Which explains why they wear them with pants and wear high heeled boots. I read that women wearing high heels seem more helpless due to the smaller, more careful steps they need to make and the appearance of being frail appeals to men. Men?
 
  • #10
dlgoff said:
:rofl: I read... Moooo... a calf. You now owe me one Dell Enhanced Keyboard. This one's full of beer and spit.

Oh Don...:rofl:
 
  • #11
Evo said:
Most women wear ridiculous high heels because that's what the fashion magazines say they have to wear. Which explains why they wear them with pants and wear high heeled boots. I read that women wearing high heels seem more helpless due to the smaller, more careful steps they need to make and the appearance of being frail appeals to men. Men?

I agree, it's not a height thing. I think that "I'm helpless" mode extends to a lot of things.

Why else do women tend to go into what they know are poor-paying jobs? I can't imagine having a job where I know I could *never* pay my own way in life, should the need arise.

Yeah I'll probably make some people mad - not my intention. Just trying to get a 'big picture' view of gender-based behavior.
 
  • #12
Evo said:
Most women wear ridiculous high heels because that's what the fashion magazines say they have to wear. Which explains why they wear them with pants and wear high heeled boots. I read that women wearing high heels seem more helpless due to the smaller, more careful steps they need to make and the appearance of being frail appeals to men. Men?

Can't talk...staring at legs...
 
  • #13
Yeah, but what evolutionary reason would it be for some women to wear high heels and socks??!

Zz.
 
  • #14
ZapperZ said:
Yeah, but what evolutionary reason would it be for some women to wear high heels and socks??!

Zz.

The common tube sock likely evolved in a symbiotic state with humans, first appearing over 50,000 years ago according to DNA sequencing. It is thought to have broken off from the hosiery family and now has over three dozen separate species spread all over the world thanks to it hijacking human migration to spread itself to every continent on the planet. Natural predators include gnomes, dryers, and the dreaded "left sock wormhole".
 
  • #15
Evo said:
I read that women wearing high heels seem more helpless due to the smaller, more careful steps they need to make and the appearance of being frail appeals to men. Men?
It's conceivable they have this effect just below conscious level, but to me the message is more obviously, "I'm dressed up! I'm out to look attractive!" The intention to be attractive is, itself, attractive.
 
  • #16
zoobyshoe said:
It's conceivable they have this effect just below conscious level, but to me the message is more obviously, "I'm dressed up! I'm out to look attractive!" The intention to be attractive is, itself, attractive.

Ah, true. But it also signals subservience: "I'm doing this to be attractive to you, because your judgement matters to me." Implicitly it signals, I am lower than you on the hierarchy.
 
  • #17
I think it's a con promulgated on women by men. It emphasizes shapely calves and causes the hips to thrust forward more so looks sexy. I think women should use high heels only to whack men over the head with.

EDIT: and I agree about the subservient thing as well. High heels are the Western world's version of bound feet.
 
  • #18
I like Serena said:
I like it when a woman figuring bolometric magnitudes sashays across the parking lot. :!)

Bolo-metric...oooh babyyyy. :!)
 
  • #20
I like Serena said:
I like it when a woman figuring bolometric magnitudes sashays across the parking lot. :!)

:rofl: and also doing triple integrals :rofl: I once fell on a piece of fertilizer while wearing heels and sashaying across the parking lot LOL
 
  • #21
lisab said:
Ah, true. But it also signals subservience: "I'm doing this to be attractive to you, because your judgement matters to me." Implicitly it signals, I am lower than you on the hierarchy.
Eh? Guys dress up too.
 
  • #22
lisab said:
Ah, true. But it also signals subservience: "I'm doing this to be attractive to you, because your judgement matters to me." Implicitly it signals, I am lower than you on the hierarchy.
Ah, you mean much in the same way that nobility or very senior officers dress up, especially for occasions? Signalling their subservience to those under them ... um. I think I might see a slight flaw in this argument. Somehow the concept of a 6' 3" woman wearing 4" heels to signify her subservience doesn't quite seem right. In fact, I could make a strong argument for extending your quoted speech thus: "It confirms in your own mind how superior I am - only the best need apply and you, worm, aren't one of them.".

I had a similar 'subservience'/'capability' interpretation given to my helping a female officer into the back of a 4-tonner. I asked if the general, or anybody else, would regard his driver opening the door for him in the same light? I also pointed out that if I hadn't made the offer, my mother, grandmother and aunts would have, quote, had my guts for garters.
 
  • #23
HeLiXe said:
:rofl: and also doing triple integrals :rofl: I once fell on a piece of fertilizer while wearing heels and sashaying across the parking lot LOL

Lollolz
 
  • #24
Evo said:
I read that women wearing high heels seem more helpless due to the smaller, more careful steps they need to make and the appearance of being frail appeals to men. Men?
I was in the middle of watching women making smaller, more careful steps, appearing frail and seeing which ones appeal to me when my wife caught me at it. Then it hit me, women wear high heels the better to bonk you on the head.
 
  • #25
Evo said:
Most women wear ridiculous high heels because that's what the fashion magazines say they have to wear. Which explains why they wear them with pants and wear high heeled boots. I read that women wearing high heels seem more helpless due to the smaller, more careful steps they need to make and the appearance of being frail appeals to men. Men?
Some men.
 
  • #26
There's nothing more attractive than a graceful woman skillfully prancing down the sidewalk in high heels, skinny jeans and a nice blouse.
 
  • #27
I always thought that one of the main reasons is the sound they make when walking. I speak for myself, it works, I always look when I hear the sound of high heels.
 
  • #28
lisab said:
Ah, true. But it also signals subservience: "I'm doing this to be attractive to you, because your judgement matters to me." Implicitly it signals, I am lower than you on the hierarchy.

I disagree with this statement. I don't have much of a subservient bone in my body (much to my own detriment sometimes)... but there's plenty of dumb sh*t I've done/worn to attract a girl because "[her] judgement matters to me."

My personal opinion regarding a girl wearing high heels is about the same as a man who wears expensive but tasteful clothing. It's nothing to do with the specifics of the clothing and way more about the fact that this is what our current culture deems as "put together." It's a social differentiator; its ends are its own means; it's a confidence booster in its own right.

When I'm about to meet someone I value (romantically or professionally), I wear my $500 watch instead of my $100 watch... and that has NOTHING to do with telling time more accurately or even hoping that the other person notices how expensive it is. In fact, I might even be a little embarrassed if someone called me on it.

Why do I find women in high heels "more attractive"? For the same reason that some women find a man in a suit "more attractive".

phion said:
There's nothing more attractive than a graceful woman skillfully prancing down the sidewalk in high heels, skinny jeans and a nice blouse.

Replace "skinny jeans" with "skirt" and we're talking!
 
  • #29
kevinferreira said:
I always thought that one of the main reasons is the sound they make when walking. I speak for myself, it works, I always look when I hear the sound of high heels.

That is because we've been trained to the point of a Pavlov reflex, that looking will feel like a reward. ;)
 
  • #30
According to this article by memory (do not have subscription)

The Antiquity of Human Walking. Authors: Napier, John. Publication: Scientific American, vol. 216, issue 4, pp. 56-66. Publication Date: 04/1967.

the different female pelvic proportions, clearly reated to child delivery, causes the distinct gait which in turn is one of the signals of femininity. As I remember the interpretation of these and other authors is that high heels accentuate this.

You can fit the various cultural superstructure ideas mentioned around thes biological facts.
 
  • #31
Rule 1 of applying the theory of evolution to cultural practices: be extremely careful and hesitant when applying the theory of evolution to cultural practices because 99.99% of the time your ad hoc rationalisation will not only be wrong, it will completely miss the point.

This is especially true when you are trying to discuss items of fashion that are transient and culture specific.
 
  • #32
phinds said:
EDIT: and I agree about the subservient thing as well. High heels are the Western world's version of bound feet.

Bound feet are forced upon women.
High heels is a choice that women make for themselves.
IMO it's all the difference between being a slave and being free.
I believe that especially women on high heels are often very much aware of the power they hold over men.

I could find the belief that it makes them look subservient on wiki.
However, it's a feminist's perception - I'm rather suspicious of it.
I believe more in zooby's view: they want to look pretty, they want to be appreciated... for the power it brings them.
 
  • #33
The necktie has been a central battleground of sexual politics ever since the emergence of the men's liberation movement of the 1970s BC. Many second-wave masculinists rejected what they regarded as constricting standards of male beauty, created for the subordination and objectifying of men and self-perpetuated by reproductive competition and men's own aesthetics. Some masculinists argue that the neckties were designed to make men helpless and vulnerable, perpetuating the gender role of females as liberators of the slowly suffocating men. Neckties have also been blamed for reducing the men to a sex object by sacrificing practical comfort in favor of an alleged increase in sex appeal.
 
  • #34
Jimmy Snyder said:
The necktie has been a central battleground of sexual politics ever since the emergence of the men's liberation movement of the 1970s BC. Many second-wave masculinists rejected what they regarded as constricting standards of male beauty, created for the subordination and objectifying of men and self-perpetuated by reproductive competition and men's own aesthetics. Some masculinists argue that the neckties were designed to make men helpless and vulnerable, perpetuating the gender role of females as liberators of the slowly suffocating men. Neckties have also been blamed for reducing the men to a sex object by sacrificing practical comfort in favor of an alleged increase in sex appeal.

:rofl: and I mean :rofl:
 
  • #35
kevinferreira said:
I always thought that one of the main reasons is the sound they make when walking. I speak for myself, it works, I always look when I hear the sound of high heels.

Me too,

and knowing the "barriers*" to wearing high heels, I'm confident the "call" to have a look will typically be worth it.

Unfortunately, sometimes male dress shoes have a similar sounding tone...at which point I wonder why a dude would wear girl sounding shoes.

*confidence of course
 
Last edited:
<h2>1. How do high-heeled shoes relate to evolution theory?</h2><p>High-heeled shoes are believed to have evolved from the elevated footwear worn by ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks and Romans. These shoes were primarily worn by the wealthy and served as a status symbol, indicating that the wearer did not have to perform manual labor. Over time, high-heeled shoes became associated with femininity and social status, and their evolution has been influenced by cultural and societal norms.</p><h2>2. Are high heels harmful to our feet from an evolutionary perspective?</h2><p>From an evolutionary perspective, high heels are not the most ideal footwear for our feet. The human foot has evolved to walk and run on natural surfaces, and high heels alter the natural alignment and function of our feet. They can lead to a variety of foot problems, such as bunions, hammertoes, and plantar fasciitis, due to the increased pressure and strain on certain areas of the foot.</p><h2>3. Do men also wear high heels in evolutionary history?</h2><p>Yes, men have also worn high heels throughout history. In fact, high heels were originally designed for men in the 16th century and were a symbol of masculinity and power. However, as fashion evolved, high heels became associated with femininity and were primarily worn by women. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of men wearing high heels as a form of self-expression and breaking gender norms.</p><h2>4. How have high heels evolved over time?</h2><p>High heels have evolved in terms of design, materials, and purpose. In ancient civilizations, they were primarily used to elevate the wearer and signify social status. In the 19th and 20th centuries, high heels became more of a fashion statement and were designed to be more aesthetically pleasing. Today, high heels come in a variety of styles and are worn for various occasions, from formal events to everyday wear.</p><h2>5. Are there any benefits to wearing high heels?</h2><p>While high heels may not be the most practical or comfortable footwear, they do offer some benefits. They can make the legs appear longer and more toned, and can improve posture by forcing the wearer to stand up straight. Additionally, high heels can boost confidence and make the wearer feel more attractive, which can have a positive impact on overall well-being.</p>

1. How do high-heeled shoes relate to evolution theory?

High-heeled shoes are believed to have evolved from the elevated footwear worn by ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks and Romans. These shoes were primarily worn by the wealthy and served as a status symbol, indicating that the wearer did not have to perform manual labor. Over time, high-heeled shoes became associated with femininity and social status, and their evolution has been influenced by cultural and societal norms.

2. Are high heels harmful to our feet from an evolutionary perspective?

From an evolutionary perspective, high heels are not the most ideal footwear for our feet. The human foot has evolved to walk and run on natural surfaces, and high heels alter the natural alignment and function of our feet. They can lead to a variety of foot problems, such as bunions, hammertoes, and plantar fasciitis, due to the increased pressure and strain on certain areas of the foot.

3. Do men also wear high heels in evolutionary history?

Yes, men have also worn high heels throughout history. In fact, high heels were originally designed for men in the 16th century and were a symbol of masculinity and power. However, as fashion evolved, high heels became associated with femininity and were primarily worn by women. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of men wearing high heels as a form of self-expression and breaking gender norms.

4. How have high heels evolved over time?

High heels have evolved in terms of design, materials, and purpose. In ancient civilizations, they were primarily used to elevate the wearer and signify social status. In the 19th and 20th centuries, high heels became more of a fashion statement and were designed to be more aesthetically pleasing. Today, high heels come in a variety of styles and are worn for various occasions, from formal events to everyday wear.

5. Are there any benefits to wearing high heels?

While high heels may not be the most practical or comfortable footwear, they do offer some benefits. They can make the legs appear longer and more toned, and can improve posture by forcing the wearer to stand up straight. Additionally, high heels can boost confidence and make the wearer feel more attractive, which can have a positive impact on overall well-being.

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