The Secret History of High Heels is....Men?

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Whether we've worn high heels or not, we've heard the stories of sore feet, twisted ankles, and the curse of fashion. Most often, women are blamed for being silly and vapid for wearing them, supposedly all in the name of attracting men. Yet, men have been some of the loudest dissenters when it comes to high heels in the last few decades. Clearly, there's more to these shoes than just "sexy".
If we wind our way back to the origins of heeled shoes, a different story is told. One where men are just as fond of high heels as women, where function and form go together. Somehow, over the centuries, shoes went in different directions based on gender. Slender, high heels came to represent femininity for some and anti-feminism for others.
So, yes, men did invent high heels. And they have made them for centuries (shoemaking has always been mostly men). But the idea that they did so to hobble women looses validity when we realize they did it first. The 17th century just wasn't ready for how far fashion would go, nor how much the Victorian era would despise it.

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00:00 Origins
02:39 Into Europe
09:26 Practical Luxury
12:43 Growing Apart
17:21 Rising Concerns
21:10 Medical Panic
26:04 Gendering