Shoes on High (Heel) Alert

Jeff and I had a discussion tonight that has really irked me.  He's chair of the safety council at work, which, it turns out, is a lot more important than just wearing an arm band in the halls and tattling on his friends ala Bobby Brady in that Brady Bunch episode.  Safety is hugely important at his company's plants, and it necessarily carries over into the corporate office.  So, before I go any further, let me first just say that the opinions expressed here are my own, and merely for "sport," as it were, and not to create a revolution or even receive any notice whatsoever.

Jeff works in a corporate office near the Las Colinas area, one of the most fashionable see and be seen places in the Metroplex.  I feel like my SAHM clothes hardly fit in when I go to lunch there.  And so, when Jeff came home and told me that the safety council was making a new policy regarding the wearing of high heels by women at work I became a little defensive.  And the more I thought about it, the more this cut to the bone, not just because of the location of the company, but, deep down, because of what it stands for (to me, at least.).

So it seems that there are new stipulations on the heels that women are allowed to wear to the office.  I'm paraphrasing, but as I understand it, heels (which are entirely optional in the office) must have 1) a back, 2) a heel at least 1" thick, and 3) a height of no more than 3".  Suddenly I think of both the shoes my grandmothers wore in their sixties and my first pair of "high heels" at Easter time when I was eight years old.

And, apparently it's not a cold, hard rule, but a strong suggestion.  But I'm not sure what the difference is.

Now, I'm no Carrie Bradshaw.  But I do love shoes.  For years I danced on the margins of professionalism as a teacher, almost always wearing some sort of heel to teach high school in.  And I've all but missed the current phase of really amazing high heels.  As the shoes started to get higher and more radical, I got pregnant (no correlation), and my budget, lack of gross motor skills, and need for "practical" shoes to shuttle my toddler to story time when we're often late have meant that I've spent the entire summer in my Reebok Easy Tones.

But, when I go to lunch with Jeff or my sister (who also works in the Las Colinas area), I almost always wear heels, because that's what the female sex wears in Las Colinas.

So when Jeff and I were having the shoe conversation at dinner I was mentally running an inventory of my "work" shoes and realized I'd be in a whole world of hurt because I really couldn't think of any shoes I owned that met all of his criteria. 

Jeff really spends a lot of time in the world of black and white, and he's made for the gig as safety czar.  And to be clear, the idea wasn't his own.  But he's seen me stumble my way through life (again, I'm just not that that coordinated) in high heels, and he gets the need for safety in the work place.  Oh, and in his words:  "Brandi, our bonuses are partly determined by ESHA and how safe we are at work." 

I'm absolutely not arguing against the safety component.  I'm all in favor of nobody getting hurt, and I do admit that sometimes the shoes can be a bit ridiculous.  But for me--and probably for most women who wear them--it all comes down to one thing:  shoes are a tool for self expression.

When I hear that I'm not allowed to wear high heels, and especially when the dictum comes from a man, I immediately hear that I'm being opressed.  Here's the bottom line:  women need to dress more like men. 

Remember the study a few years ago that suggested that height in the workplace really does seem to determine power?  Some of us really do wear heels because they make us feel empowered.  And I don't love that that empowerment is being stripped away, even if it's in the name of safety. 

After our dinner conversation, I took about 2 minutes to run through my closet and grab shoes that didn't meet the new criteria, just so I could show Jeff that the new rules just didn't make a lot of sense.  And there are only a couple of shoes in this pile that really shouldn't be worn.  And I didn't even make a dent in my shoe collection.  I wanted Jeff to agree with me that while safety can be mandated, personal expression really shouldn't be. 

I'm not sure it completely did the trick, but, since I covered his sink in shoes, it did make it hard for him to brush his teeth.  Maybe he'll think of that at his next safety meeting.  ;)