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Should stiletto heels be banned in the workplace?
Reuters UK ^ | 9/17/09 | Julie Mollins

Posted on 09/18/2009 8:21:15 AM PDT by pissant

A call by the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists asking employers to work with unions to conduct risk assessments and if necessary allow workers to replace high heels with comfortable shoes in the workplace created a controversy this week.

Unions passed a motion at the Trades Union Congress conference demanding that women have the right to comfortable footwear in the workplace.

Defenders of the stiletto claimed that unions were attempting to ban the shoes in the workplace, but the podiatrists defended their position, stating that high heels can cause such foot problems as blisters, corns, calluses, damaged joints, knee and back pain.

Some women argue that stiletto heels give them a power advantage in male-dominated workplaces because the shoes make them appear taller and enhance their sex appeal.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Society
KEYWORDS: fashion; fmps; highheels; workplace
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To: Dallas59

“This is racism against women.”

Legism...


21 posted on 09/18/2009 8:33:36 AM PDT by jessduntno ("Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in it." - Ted Kennedy (D-HELL)
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To: pissant
So, the nanny state is at it again.

Personally, I rarely wear heels because I'm a klutz (and because it would just look stupid in my current line of work, anyway), but this is something that should be up to the individual. And dress codes for companies should be up to each individual company.

Period.

The damn government needs to stay out of it and get off of our $%#& backs.

22 posted on 09/18/2009 8:34:39 AM PDT by Allegra (It doesn't matter what this tagline says...the liberals are going to call it "racist.")
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To: pissant
Morning!

I'm not trying to rain on your testosterone parade, but I've seen the results of women wearing these kinds of shoes all their lives, and it's not pretty.

-----

I now return you to your regularly scheduled drool-fest.

23 posted on 09/18/2009 8:34:56 AM PDT by MamaTexan (Sooner or later, the federal government will realize that the Laws of Nature can be a real b$tch!)
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To: pissant

I think they’ll be banned—for insurance reasons. Since high heels cause a long list of medical issues, it will be the medical insurance companies that will force workplaces to ban them.


24 posted on 09/18/2009 8:35:04 AM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: pissant

Depends on the job. Is it a safety issue? Otherwise it’s no ones business if the woman like the shoes or not. Personally if you can pull it off wear’m.


25 posted on 09/18/2009 8:35:43 AM PDT by svcw (Legalism reinforces self-righteousness - it communicates to you the good news of your own goodness)
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To: pissant

It should be required( if you can pull it off)


26 posted on 09/18/2009 8:37:54 AM PDT by GQuagmire
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

I think the key word is “allow” heels to be replaced with more comfortable shoes in the workplace.

I’ve never had a job that required high heels. All of the jobs I’ve had where I’ve had to dress nice just simply required business casual or “professional” attire and I could wear heels or flats.


27 posted on 09/18/2009 8:38:31 AM PDT by dajeeps
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To: pissant

No. As long as you are comfortable enough to walk in them, you should be allowed to wear them.

Those are a very pretty pair.


28 posted on 09/18/2009 8:39:58 AM PDT by Neets (Normal is in the eye of the beholder)
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To: pissant

NO WAY! Touch my stilettos and you will wind up with a hole in your hand.


29 posted on 09/18/2009 8:40:14 AM PDT by ninergold3 ("Has it ever occurred to you that nothing occurs to God?" -Mark Lowry)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

Only if they bring hot pants back in!


30 posted on 09/18/2009 8:41:34 AM PDT by RatRipper (I'll ride a turtle to work every day before I buy anything from Government Motors.)
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To: BertWheeler
Why is everything in England so compulsory-conformity driven

England is a fine country, or at least, it has been for a good portion of its existence as a sovereign nation. It is, however far more homogeneous in a cultural sense than what we have come to appreciate in the US, as are most other European countries. Of course, with the influx of young Muslims, that too is changing.

Most middle-class Brits live in rather uniform-looking rented flats, not in their own private houses. They work for the same government offices or for a far narrower range of private employers than exists in the US where small businesses predominate. Trade unions are still far more powerful in Europe than they are in the US. Also, many more people there depend on public transportation than own their own (much smaller) vehicles, powered by $8 per gallon gasoline.

In one respect, it's what Obama wants to make of the US, only with multicultural aspirations and ambitious Federal mandates.

31 posted on 09/18/2009 8:46:27 AM PDT by andy58-in-nh (America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
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To: pissant

Oh no, BLISTERS? Say it is not so. Is there no Freedom of Footwear in the UK? Do employers really demand that women wear stiletto heels? Maybe in the StreetWalkers Union. I’ve never heard of anything so STUPID.

Well, yes I have — daily, from Pelosi et al.


32 posted on 09/18/2009 8:47:07 AM PDT by bboop (Tar and feathers -- good back then, good now)
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To: jessduntno

More pictures please. A thread like this calls for maximum bandwidth utilization...


33 posted on 09/18/2009 8:48:06 AM PDT by LifePath
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To: pissant
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
34 posted on 09/18/2009 8:48:15 AM PDT by floozy22 ("As government expands, liberty contracts." RWR)
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To: MamaTexan

Here is my beef with the podiatrists’ desire:

I know of no workplace dress code requiring stiletto heels (except maybe strip clubs - and that is hearsay evidence :). The Podiatrists want to BAN stilettos (as in, make it against the rules to choose to wear them).

I have a problem with restricting freedom in this manner. If individual companies want to write stilettos out of their dress code - that is fine. But the podiatrists forcing the change “to protect the women” is just one further step toward a socialistic society, IMO.

Personally, I believe such footwear should be worn at the discretion of the wearer (I don’t have the legs - LOL). I also believe that stilettos are hard on women’s feet, and should not be worn every day, but are fine for occasions.

I also think it’s fine if a woman chooses never to wear them at all.

How’s that for wishy-washy?


35 posted on 09/18/2009 8:50:21 AM PDT by MortMan (Stubbing one's toes is a valid (if painful) way of locating furniture in the dark.)
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To: LifePath

But please no pictures of Hellen Thomas or Nazi Pelosi...Pretty please...


36 posted on 09/18/2009 8:50:26 AM PDT by LifePath
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To: Grunthor

Agree.

Up to the Lady when she chooses what to wear in the morning. Plus her common sense.

We could also ban paper (causes cuts), non-automatic retracting drawers (banged shins). Oh, so many more.

Common sense! To bad folks can’t get it as an injection or something. Maybe as an ingredient in chocolate cake.


37 posted on 09/18/2009 8:50:42 AM PDT by K-oneTexas (I'm not a judge and there ain't enough of me to be a jury. (Zell Miller, A National Party No More))
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To: pissant

Only if they’re virgins....


38 posted on 09/18/2009 8:50:45 AM PDT by ßuddaßudd (7 days - 7 ways Guero >>> with a floating, shifting, ever changing persona.....)
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To: Hi Heels

we need expert testimony


39 posted on 09/18/2009 8:50:52 AM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: pissant
Some women argue that stiletto heels give them a power advantage in male-dominated workplaces because the shoes make them appear taller and enhance their sex appeal.

At least they make an honest argument:

The research shows men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6132718/Men-lose-their-minds-speaking-to-pretty-women.html

40 posted on 09/18/2009 8:50:55 AM PDT by frithguild (Can I drill your head now?)
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