Fashion police want women to wear high heels

wearing heels will help “Japanese women become more confident”

How does a woman feel more confident when she has backache, aching calves, blisters and bunions?

simply “throw away your heels,” arguing the freedom it brings can unlock the mind

There, fixed that one for you.

a certificate that allows them to become high heel instructors

The World. Has. Gone. Mad.

“It might help us catch a hunky guy,”

It don't take crippling yourself to catch a hunky guy. And if it did, why on earth would you want him?

400,000 yen to learn how to walk in heels? Certificates? Money grubbing scheme.

In an apparent bid to improve this situation, the all-female organisation charges hundreds of thousands of yen for etiquette lessons, including special classes where women are taught to walk correctly, and particularly in high heels.

This is what it's all about. Sadly however there are plenty of young impressionable females out there that are going to fall for this and spend the money.

Not a female so I can not say from experience, but walking around all day in a pair of high heels does not look like it would be something I would enjoy. I think my feet would fall off.

“They waddle along, pigeon-toed, with their bottoms sticking out as if they’re bursting to use the toilet. It looks ghastly,” she added.

Yeah, it's like the Ministry of Silly Walks sometimes.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8

Just wear comfortable shoes gals. Beauty comes from within. Raw sex appeal is appearance only. And at that, shoes are not a sex object to me. Flats all the way!

Ladies, wear what is comfy. we do. A man who will only be snared by a woman in heels is not a man worth keeping.

Yet the “walking etiquette classes” are proving hugely popular: At JHA students pay 400,000 yen for a six-month course—and so far 4,000 have taken part, while similar lessons and schools are popping up nationwide.

Holy cow...this woman made like over $15 MILLION by teaching people to walk right? I am in the wrong business. Damn,

i think the comments in the Article are too harsh and disrespectful to the women

That's the point, it's a sales pitch. Get this, it's women busting on other women.

How does a woman feel more confident when she has backache, aching calves, blisters and bunions?

You forgot to add three extra inches to your height.

But, yeah, wearing heels all day every day is a great way to ruin your feet, knees and lower back.

“It makes you look more lady-like,” said the 44-year-old, who has spent thousands of yen amassing a stiletto collection.

You'd be lucky to "amass" a single shoe in Japan for "thousands of Yen".

Who are these idiots? Heels do heaps of damage to the body.

Heel proponents (IN THIS ARTICLE) de-codified:

"Hey, Japanese women! Remember how this painful thing was considered feminine? Do this new painful thing or you're ugly!"

Seriously. If you like heels, okay. If you wanna go through the pain and trouble, more power to you. But you can learn proper posture without high heels. Seems like folks in the article pretend like the way to solve Japan's bad posture is to wear heels when other countries (with a higher occurance of heels) also slouch or walk with a bad pace or what have you.

Ugh.

“It makes you look more lady-like,” said the 44-year-old, who has spent thousands of yen amassing a stiletto collection. “They’re an essential item for a modern woman to feel pride and confidence in herself.”

If by 44 years old you don't know what it takes to be "lady-like" you have other problems that you are hiding.

A middle-aged woman, busting chops on other middle-aged women, playing up to their fears of being alone

“We learn how to move in a kimono and how to bow correctly, but not how to walk (in heels),” said hypnotherapist Takako Watanabe, 46 after a walking lesson.... “It might help us catch a hunky guy,” she adds.

46 years old still looking to catch some "hunky guy"? Probably one of those women, when you were in your 20's dreamed of latching on to a guy who makes over 10,000,000 yen per year and had looks and real estate to go along with it......still waiting I see.

“If women look sexier, it will help Japanese men buck up their ideas,” the 45-year-old [JHA director Tomoko Kubota] said.

What is that supposed to mean?

Anyway, I am sure the feminists are thrilled to have an organization like the JHA in their camp, with plenty of money grubbing schemes (@sillygirl) designed to "empower" women and help them land the high salary earner of their dreams. This is surely a great fit with the female empowerment goals of Abenomics.

Madame Yumiko is barking mad.

Japan is not a modern society.

All the pro and con arguments aside, I see too many Japanese girls and young women walking pigeon-toed. For one, it's not healthy, in the long term, and for two, it's not all that attractive. Thumbs me up or down, it doesn't matter. But it's a Japanese thing, from what I've seen in my travels. I don't particularly care about high heels, but I'd like to see young women walking properly. Pigeon-toed walking brings on serious knee and hip problems.

While I enjoy seeing good-looking women wearing heels, I think heels are torture for every woman, no matter how good she looks in them. I do not bother with heels and feel good after the morning & evening walk to & back from work. Flats give you the freedom to walk as much and however fast you like.

It's all about personal taste. If a woman wants heels, go fo it. If a man wants to see heels go for them. If heels turn him on, what will the woman get besides the quicky?

I simply say the heels don't make you beatiful. Happiness and comfort is more beautiful to me and she can be in bare feet.

This "JHA" are just trading one silly stereotype for another. Real empowerment is wearing whatever the hell I want to because I want to, not because of social pressure or because someone told me to.

And the silly pigeon-toe thing isn't from kimono, it's a 20th century thing due to girls being told it's "cute" and "feminine" for several generations. Traditional kimono posture emphasizes a gentle, elegant walk, not the silly pigeon walk.

They restrict leg movement, forcing women to walk pigeon-toe style. They force women to push their leg and knee joints at extreme angles. Additionally, when not wearing a kimono, this pigeon-toe stance makes women look like they are trying to crap standing up.

I'll have to disagree. Although they do restrict leg movement, they don't force pigeon toed walking, as ChaosWyvern has pointed out. And it certainly does not explain why girls in their teens to 40s walk pigeon toed, when they where kimonos like 10 times in their entire life (unless you count yukata, in which it's a few days a year).

i think the comments in the Article are too harsh and disrespectful to the women

Walking in high-heels ain't easy. Too many clomp around like they are wearing clogs.

They restrict leg movement, forcing women to walk pigeon-toe style. They force women to push their leg and knee joints at extreme angles. The "kimono causes bad posture" is a myth, widely spread in modern times by people encouraging western dress. You can't run a marathon in a kimono, sure, but if it is putting great pressure on you or making you walk funny then you aren't wearing it right or don't know what you're doing.

You know what will also give women confidence? Not dumping on them. How about support for single mothers? How about removing that iron ceiling? How about not having old men who fantasize about being kamikaze pilots in the good ol' days making all the decisions?

Man, all these dudes on here making comments about what women should wear based on what looks good to them. /smh

This article is just such a weird polymerization of sad that I don't know where to begin. Is it in trying to claim that high heels make you more confident? Is it in trying to claim that kimonos are at fault for the walking gait of a generation that has mostly never worn kimonos in their entire lives? Is it in trying to break mannerisms down into an East/West dichotomy in the sentence directly after admitting that other East Asian countries don't have this problem?

I tell you what, ladies: wear what you want. You feel good in heels, fine. You feel good in flats, fine. You feel good in steel-toed boots, fine (and if so, can I borrow your chop saw this weekend?). If people feel like they have to drive the conversation by what looks good, then people look best when they're wearing what they feel comfortable in. But that shouldn't even be driving the conversation because we're all busy adults and we should all have much more important things to do with our lives than worry about what other people are putting on their feet.

The article is not being straightforward. Let's face, J-women prob have low self esteems cause (today) they're still expected to rear the kids, cook, clean, quit their jobs after pregnancy etc.

Simply wearing High Heels won't give them confidence in today's world. . . it will only add fuel to the groping on the trains and other random sexual assaults.

Exactly right Cleo. If heels catch you a man how shallow a relationship you would have.

And if it did, why on earth would you want him?

Because he's hunky, obviously.

“Chinese or Korean ladies don’t have these problems,” she said. “It’s a result of Japan’s kimono culture and shuffling about in straw sandals.

Don't know how kimonos can be blamed for bad posture and low self esteem. I find kimonos to be very elegant and great looking.

Not to mention, Chinese and Koreans don't traditionally wear high heels (they do have very low heels though). For that matter, is there a culture where wearing high heels is the norm for the average girl?

High heels with stockings, a garter belt and skimpy panties look absolutely wonderful.

Let them wear heels.

@ Stranger....

Well dressed is attractive. Stilettos not required. As I said in tha start, "just wear comfortable shoes gals". I certainly don't want any woman to be uncomfortable just trying to please me. Be as you are. Jeans and a tee is okay with me also. Beauty is deep, not only a visual. When they have both...bravo! A very desirable girl!!!

Hollywood is incredibly fake when you see photos dressed and other w/o makeup or $100,000 gowns. many people are enamored with Hollywood stars...why? I said when Paris Hilton became famous, I can go to any mall USA and in ten minutes find dozens much more attractive. Dozens!

Yet again I realize I'm just not sharp enough to fully grasp the wit and insight into this obviously satirical piece.

So many things wrong here, where would one even begin?

Besides the obvious money grabbing aspects, high heels are just horrific for one's body.

What a silly article! Strong women are those who resist peer/social pressure and do as they want, not the ones who comply with men/women stereotypes and fantasies.

As a man I have never been attracted to women who wear heels, G strings etc just cause they want to attract men's attention or think 'it's what men want so better comply'. Thank God many women aren't that silly/weak.

"Hope you realize how creepy this sounds, like it's easy to see if a woman is wearing high heels, but the g-string? If you have women flashing their g-strings at you to get your attention I wonder how much in tips you are paying them."

Huh? I think you may have missed the nuance in 'just because etc' yubaru. Its not the heels or string itself that I find unattractive (on the contrary), its occasionally the reason why they wear them. Being attracted to someone isn't necessarily instantaneous anyway, it may take hours, weeks, years. Attractive does not necessarily mean sexualy attractive, its not only about 'seeing' or not as you imply..

I hope you realise how simplistic your comment is.

High heels have been linked to back problems as well as foot problems.

A lot of women use high heels to attract attention of their crushes

Personally I would rather prefer the police to do their job and protect the citizen.

Well dressed is attractive. Stilettos not required. As I said in tha start, "just wear comfortable shoes gals". I certainly don't want any woman to be uncomfortable just trying to please me. Be as you are. Jeans and a tee is okay with me also. Beauty is deep, not only a visual.

I agree, but you still haven't explained how a relationship between a girl who wears heels and a guy who is attracted to that will always be shallow as you claimed.

It's all about personal taste. If a woman wants heels, go fo it. If a man wants to see heels go for them. If heels turn him on, what will the woman get besides the quicky?

So you still haven't explained how a couple in which the woman wears heels and the man likes it will definitely be shallow, and now you are adding that there will never be anything more than a quickly. Once again, can you please explain the logic behind this, what exactly is it about heels that precludes a deep relationship?

iamme,

Don't know how kimonos can be blamed for bad posture and low self esteem. I find kimonos to be very elegant and great looking.

They restrict leg movement, forcing women to walk pigeon-toe style. They force women to push their leg and knee joints at extreme angles. Additionally, when not wearing a kimono, this pigeon-toe stance makes women look like they are trying to crap standing up.

If high heels were really that great, men would be wearing them...........

All the peoples in the comment section here tries to give opinions what woman should or should not wear, smh. Just wear what you want to wear, period.

A woman here in the UK petitioned the government over her employer's demand that she wear heels... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36265545

Just ware whatever makes you comfortable without deforming your feet in a long run. Some do walk very nicely in high heels, some just walk awkward - probably need time to get used to and practice. Just do not wear flip flop in the office. It does not matter if it is laced with diamonds, they are just not appropriate in a normal office (I have actually seen that in the office in NA). Never mind they offers no protection.

Hiheels can't run from/ chase after attackers, risk sprains/falls, deforms over time.

I can totally understand that Japanese women can't walk properly in heels, or even in flats. ( I can't either) But I doubt if it will lead to feeling confident. I mean, this comment:

“It might help us catch a hunky guy,” she adds

It's all about getting a guy, after all!!

This woman is a buffoon.

I prefer my women to not wear high heels. It's unhealthy and results in misshapen toes and toenails.

High heels are a western convention that serve no function in modern society other than pure vanity enabling those who obsess more about 'looking good than feeling good.'

Theyre almost as ridiculous as men wearing skin tight jeans.

I hope you realise how simplistic your comment is.

I hope you realize how sophomoric yours was as well, hence my reply.

Well-being is the key to evaluating society. Don't force people to do anything. Rational thinking and health ought to be buttressed by proper education and respect for empiricism. Wait...that'll never work here! Continue the eye-ball licking and bagel lips! Backward and downward everyone!

I love the duck walk!

As a man I have never been attracted to women who wear heels, G strings etc just cause they want to attract men's attention or think 'it's what men want so better comply'.

Hope you realize how creepy this sounds, like it's easy to see if a woman is wearing high heels, but the g-string? If you have women flashing their g-strings at you to get your attention I wonder how much in tips you are paying them.

Exactly right Cleo. If heels catch you a man how shallow a relationship you would have.

Please, explain the logic behind this. What specifically about being attracted to a well-dressed woman ensures that their relationship will be shallow. I'm very curious about the science behind your declaration.

good for them! j-girls = sponge boobs square ass

Perhaps wearing an opposite is better so the heel is flat and the toe is 8cm above the heel. This is my idea, so please do not copy me. Thank you.

There is nothing more beautiful as a womans confidence wearing pin heels. Respect.

But, yeah, wearing heels all day every day is a great way to ruin your feet, knees and lower back.

LoL. . . are you a secret cross-dresser speaking from experience?

It don't take crippling yourself to catch a hunky guy. And if it did, why on earth would you want him?

A quicky?