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Editor, skirt! Jacksonville
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I love thinking and talking about feminism and writing for skirt!. I went to the University of Iowa and I'll put up a good fight about spelling. ...
do heels hold a woman back?
Tuesday, May, 20, 2008
Amanda Ripley wrote this cool book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives a Disaster--And Why , and it’s right up my alley.
For one, it’s about disaster, which I love to obsess about. When I was seven or so, I used to lay in bed at night and think about how I would escape a fire should one erupt on the second story (I decided I could learn to climb the tree outside my window). I also obsessed about (down to the detail and dialogue) how I could outsmart a burglar who might hold up my family (too many hostage movies?).
So looking at escape plans from other peoples’ tried and true experiences could bring peace of mind to me, should a hurricane strike Jax tomorrow.
Interestingly enough, I was reading a review of Ripley’s book that sited that although women are more likely to survive hurricanes and floods because they’re better at following evacuation directions, their high heels will inevitably slow them down should the disaster strike during work/bar hopping hours.
Now, I love heels. They make me look tons taller, and I’ve been waiting since that same disaster-laden 7-year-old mind to grow up and wear them. But I would hope that in a disaster I would have the good sense (if safe) to take them off.
But along those lines, if heels are a genderized accessory that could hold women back...aren’t purses a genderized accessory that could save people in a disaster?
Just thinking of all the stuff I have in my purse all the time--looking, now--I would think that out of all of those pens, lipglosses, lipsticks, panty-liners, tampons, notebooks, cell phones (two!), business cards, chapstick, sunscreen, hand lotion, gum, digital camera, sunglasses, keys, mints and the occasional snack bag of cashews, I might be as valuable as a grocery store in the time of crisis. Don’t guys just carry their wallets on them?
So there’s a definite advantage in us hauling our huge very this-season purses around, even though my right shoulder does not thank me at night. Someday, my fashion statement might save my life. And yours, too, depending on your affinity for cashews.
- Sara Conrad's blog
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The author specifically cited heels as being a reason why women fared worse than men in the World Trade Center on 9/11. They couldn't get down those many flights of stairs in heels (up to an hour of walking in terrifying conditions), so they were taking them off and piling them in the stairwells. This meant they were getting injured walking on broken glass, and others were getting hurt falling on discarded shoes which they surely couldn't see in the smoke and/or dark. (Not to mention that the stairwells were pretty narrow.) She didn't specifically say it, but I have to wonder if more women were still in the buildings when they collapsed because they couldn't move as quickly with injured feet.
And as for changing your shoes at your desk before running out (the ones in the car wouldn't be so helpful!): The author talks about needing to take action in as little as 90 seconds to stay alive when an emergency happens. If you're in a meeting room on another floor and need to move, that's it - you just have to go without hesitating. No time to go to your desk and put on your comfortable shoes.
High heels have also been a problem for inflatable escape slides for airplanes, since they puncture the slides.
I don't mean to sound alarmist. Really! But I have often felt more vulnerable in heels on city streets since I do find it harder to run in them, and skinny heels get stuck in subway grates, etc. I've generally preferred pretty shoes that I know won't hold me back if I should need to move quickly.
NPR has a great presentation by the author on their website. She isn't trying to freak people out. She just wants us to learn what separates survivors from victims in disasters, and heels is something she found in her research. Another one is that people who read the safety card on planes and find the exits before takeoff are the ones who survive crashes. Simple stuff that she said has made her less anxious about emergencies now that she knows that we can get through much more than we realize.
And much as I love Ginger Rogers, and I find heels are great for certain kinds of dances myself, she wasn't trying to escape a burning airplane. My, what a movie that would have been!
Love the big bags! And when you have kids...they'll even be more handy. On any given day, I have matchbox cars, hand wipes, an emergency lollipop and juice box stashed in my purse. And though my right shoulder also gives me some grief every now and then, when that matchbox car saves a dinner out...it's worth it!
xoxo
tcb
And you're so on about our purses. I mean there are bandaids.. shout wipes.. gum or candy.. the list goes on.. What's in a guy's wallent besides some cash, credit cards and (if he's lucky) condoms?
Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude
www.missattitude.us