Should Wearing High-Heeled Shoes Be Mandatory?

[jim360]

I mean... really?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36264229

[Prudie]

Jim you're right it's not isolated, cabin crew have similar rules as do I'm sure many other walks of life (tee-hee) and yes It can only be down to convention but it is what I'd expect in a city office.
This woman should have liked it or lumped it however.

[mikey4444]

Naomi...."Frankly, if she'd have been a temp in any office I've managed, I'd have called the agency for an immediate replacement"


So if she had been perfectly OK is all other respects, you would have got rid of her ? What a shallow attitude to hold !

I can't see any reason, other than womens constant vanity and men's needs to oggle, why a woman can't do her job in a pair of smart flat shoes.

[jim360]

Strictly, I'm not anti-heels, I'm anti- any requirement to wear them.

[Bazile]

naomi24

//Mikey, part of her job as a receptionist was escorting clients to meeting rooms. Frankly, if she'd have been a temp in any office I've managed, I'd have called the agency for an immediate replacement.//

I cannot for the life of me see why - escorting clients to meeting rooms -
should require someone to wear High- heeled shoes

[naomi24]

//This woman should have liked it or lumped it //

As I said, she was a temp. She had no business complaining.

[vulcan42]

I wonder what their reaction would be regarding high heels if she was 6' 4", would they want her to be 6' 8"?

[Baldric]

///If she was a receptionist, it is likely that visitors would be looking at her face, not her feet, so I fail to see what difference her choice of shoes make to her doing her job//.

From the Link

"I was expected to do a nine-hour shift on my feet escorting clients to meeting rooms. I said 'I just won't be able to do that in heels'."

[ladybirder]

Oh, missed that bit, 2" heel should be OK at her age.

[mikey4444]

Bazile (14:53)....no, neither can I. Its all down to vanity I you ask me !

[Prudie]

She was asked to wear heels of 2 inches not high heeled stilettoes - 2 inches is virtually flat anyway

[viv41]

Before I started having sprogs, I woked in an accountants office and there was no dress code there about shoes of any type ! (Wasn't in the city).

[Ellipsis]

Hi Naomi

I appreciate that 2" heels aren't particularly high, but I would struggle in them ...

My reference to high heels comes from the OP, and from the article I posted which suggested that 1.5" should be the maximum:

----------------------------------------------
Choose sensible heels. Select shoes with low heels - an inch and a half or less - and a wide heel base; a slightly thicker heel will spread the load more evenly. Narrow, stiletto-type heels provide little support and three inch or higher heels may shorten the Achilles tendon.
----------------------------------------------

Note that "three inch or higher heels may shorten the Achilles tendon" yet this standard required heels to be between 2" and 4" ...

[naomi24]

Mikey, //So if she had been perfectly OK is all other respects, you would have got rid of her ? What a shallow attitude to hold !//

I don't expect temps to create waves. (No pun intended).

[mikey4444]

Prudie.. if 2 inches is virtually flat anyway, why insist on 2 inch heels ?

[naomi24]

Ellipsis, most of us seem to manage.

[viv41]

I wouldn't say 2" is 'virtually flat'.

[ladybirder]

I am paying the price now for walking around in very high heeled shoes for years. Also paying the price for lying out for hours in the hot sun.

[DTCwordfan]

Now did they require skirts or trousers and then black stockings or pantyhose, as well?

[mikey4444]

DTC...you are making a valid, though somewhat dangerous point.

This is all about making women the centre of attention......a position insisted on by men and maintained by women.

To paraphrase Karl Marx...."women, you have nothing to lose but your heels"

[Ellipsis]

Naomi, if you worked for me then I wouldn't demand this of you ... it would be your choice.

Thanks for BA Jim!