High-heeled shoes and pavement.

[randomness]

I have noticed something odd in my recent travels. There appears to be a correlation between broken or uneven pavement/sidewalks and women wearing high-heeled shoes. This is extremely counter-intuitive.

For example, cities in the following countries undeniably have more than their share of broken pavement: Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, Latvia, Slovakia, Italy. In these places, high-heeled shoes are popular with local women.

Compare with cities in the following places: Singapore, Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Japan. In these places, sensible shoes are more popular with local women. And the sidewalks are in better repair than the previous group of places.

Now, correlation does not imply causality, and it would be perverse to make the claim that it does in this case. Although I appreciate a nice set of heels as much as anyone, I think it's dangerous to try wearing them while walking on broken sidewalks.

My personal theory on this includes a complicated set of connections between economics, culture, fashion, and the role of the sexes. But I'm still collecting data.

Comments

[gingicat]

Or, in areas where you can't easily walk without twisting an ankle anyway, you may as well wear pretty shoes?

The route I walk between our house and Oak Grove station has some pretty nasty sidewalks that even sensible shoes don't help much with, but I can't walk in heels anyway. :)

[slyppi.livejournal.com]

Or, maybe, a populace that has the good sense to take care of its pavement also has the good sense to wear low-heeled shoes? :)

[mycroft.livejournal.com]

I'm more inclined to believe that, in a society where the economy is sufficiently bad that people rent themselves out practically for free, that: a) they doll themselves up for it, and b) you can't expect regular maintenance of public facilities.

BTW, did you ever find out why they were tearing up Khao San?

[welcomerain.livejournal.com]

Everything is pretty well-paved in Seoul, but there are tons of stairs everywhere, like a European city. And about 50% the women wear high-heeled clicky mules. Usually in the wrong size.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Dunno. When I left it was still torn up. There was some evidence of new sidewalk tiles, but that didn't explain the bizarre holes in the street.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Or, in areas where you can't easily walk without twisting an ankle anyway, you may as well wear pretty shoes?

Good point, which leads me to the following.

The route I walk between our house and Oak Grove station has some pretty nasty sidewalks that even sensible shoes don't help much with, but I can't walk in heels anyway. :)

I once had a conversation at a con with a woman who said that she and her husband had a deal. She was willing to wear heels if he was willing to carry her. At the time of the conversation, she was wearing heels, and he looked quite able to carry her around. Seemed like a fair deal to me.

I think in a lot of places where pavement is bad women must take a lot of taxis.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, I think there's something to this. :)

OT, but...

[a-dodecahedron.livejournal.com]

Awww! What a pretty Dalmatian puppy.

Re: OT, but...

[slyppi.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) She's the sweetest - getting older now, and has developed diabetes, but appears happy still. As long as she keeps chewing her tennis ball I'll know she's enjoying life.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

they doll themselves up for it

So, here's my point: in all of the places I mentioned, women doll themselves up. The question, however, is why in the places with bad pavement the local definition of "dolled-up" includes higher heels than places with good pavement.