Occasions and non-occasions: Identity, femininity and high-heeled shoes

Abstract

This article addresses theoretical problems around the notion of 'choice', using empirical data from a three-year, ESRC-funded study of identity, transition and footwear among both women and men. With a focus on female participants who wore, or had worn high-heeled shoes, it draws on Budgeon's argument for viewing the body as event, as becoming, and Finch's use of the concept of display, to explore the temporalities of high-heeled shoe wear, particularly as an aspect of 'dressing up'. Data from both focus groups and year-long case studies allowed everyday and life course patterns of highheeled shoe wear to be explored -in many cases, as they unfolded. This material has led us to critique the linear, goal-oriented nature of a modernist 'project of the self', and to argue that identification, as a dynamic process, may often be erratic, partial and temporary. Emphasized femininity, it is suggested, can be 'displayed' episodically, as an aspect of 'doing gender', a perspective that problematizes notions of a 'post-feminist masquerade' that inevitably secures gender retrenchment. Through an examination of the occasions and non-occasions that pattern the temporalities of women's lives, therefore, the article demonstrates a distinction between displaying femininity and doing gender, one that simultaneously sheds light on their relationship with one another. Keywords Body, choice, footwear, gender, transitionThis pair, really high, really uncomfortable but classic, beautiful, sexy, they make my legs look so long, but I can't wear them outside of the house, so every now and then I have a party where people are only allowed to wear ridiculous shoes and we all sit around in our ridiculous high heels, [laughs] comparing. Eva (32) 1

The 2016 HIGh Heels: Health effects And psychosexual BenefITS (HIGH HABITS) study: systematic review of reviews and additional primary studies

“…In modern society, high heels have become a fashionable symbol of modern (heteronormative) female sexuality [ 3 ], and are regularly worn by a considerable proportion of women [ 4 ]. Fashion operates by capitalizing on concepts of social compliance and conformity [ 5 , 6 ], potentially mediated through celebrity influence [ 7 , 8 ] and the expectation to perform normalised gender roles [ 9 , 10 ]. Many feminist theorists have argued that gendered violence occurs when women become disabled by their clothing and footwear [ 11 ], when standards of beauty define dimensions of physical freedom [ 12 , 13 ].…”

High-heeled shoes and musculoskeletal injuries: a narrative systematic review

“… 2 3 It has been suggested that this effect may result from an exaggeration of prototypical feminine gait. 3 Compliance to social norms 4 5 is a key driver of human behaviour and fashion 6 including use of high heels 7 8 is a clear manifestation of this. Being associated more with occasions than non-occasions, 7 8 use of high heels may be seen as highly desirable and even compulsory at certain workplaces and social events.…”

The Temporal Landscape of Shoes: A Life Course Perspective

“…How people and things intersect, and the implications for age and gender‐based power, is, however, more than a matter of ageism. The data below do show female participants speaking derogatively about ‘unattractive old women's shoes’, ‘sensible middle‐aged women's slippers’, the danger of becoming ‘a fuddy duddy’, but when they chose shoes that reflected an earlier aged identity or appropriated shoes from a previous era, it was also the opportunity to relive earlier pleasurable experiences, their own or those attributed to glamorous others, that attracted them; they were drawn to pairs with scope for the display of an idealized feminine aesthetic which a sensible styling had displaced (Dilley et al ., forthcoming). Brydon () argues that the sensible shoe on the female foot is about downplaying a woman's physicality.…”