Can We Stop With The High Heels For Little Girls?

The more I see articles about high heels for girls, the more uncomfortable I get. I mean really, how young do we need to start indoctrinating girls about the whole idea that fashion and pain go hand in hand? My child will not be wearing high heels. Hopefully this ridiculous trend will pass before she’s old enough for me to worry about it.

You can not tell me a 5-year-old is more comfortable in wedges or heels. You just can’t. I am 40-years-old, I’ve been a slave to fashion for long enough to know that a flat shoe is easier to walk in. The only person that would disagree with this comment is someone who has worn heels for so long that they can’t comfortably wear a flat shoe. I assure you that person has problems with their feet.

If you look at this infographic about what heels are actually doing to our feet, you will understand why I have a problem subjecting my children to them.  Ankle injury, hammer toes, issues with the achilles tendon – these are all the ailments we agree to when we wear heels with some regularity. Heels force the body’s weight to be redistributed, which can eventually cause joint pain. Imagine how much faster these problems will result if we keep starting our girls in these shoes at younger and younger ages.

So we’re obviously not talking three or four inch heels here, but some of them have a heel of one and a half to two inches. That is significant enough to cause pain and discomfort. I shouldn’t be surprised at this trend. Heels for women are getting so ridiculously high – it’s a wonder that anyone can walk in those things. Four-inch heels? If you say it doesn’t hurt to walk in those you are a big, fat, liar.

I get it – the shoes are in style and little girls want them. But can we exercise better judgement here? There are tons of things kids want all the time. We can’t always say yes. I won’t be teaching my child that looking cute sometimes requires pain. I just won’t.

(photo: shopfashiondesigner.com)