Men in Heels at the Bata Shoe Museum

Elton John’s Ferradini Platforms

Most of us have worn shoes all our lives. In fact, we spend most of our waking hours with shoes on our feet. And some of us don’t just wear shoes, we love them – we collect them, we take care of them, we pour over photos of them on Instagram. But something most men have never considered is just why so many of our shoes, especially “dress” shoes, have heels.

You may think it has something to do with posture or the health of your arches. And while their precise shape certainly has an impact on your foot’s well being, that’s not why heels were added in the first place or, necessarily, why they are still there. But then ask yourself this: why do most men wear such short, bulky heels while most women wear much higher, daintier heels?

These questions are posed – and some answered – by an exhibit at the Bata Shoe Museum (running until ~~June 2016~~ October 2017). “Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels” traces the masculine heel back to its first appearance in the 1600s. And the most important thing you need to know is that the male heel didn’t come from women’s shoes: it’s the other way around. Associated with horseback riding (because they helped you stay in the stirrup) and court culture (what better way to prove you don’t have to do manual labour than three inch heels?), men strutted around long before women did. In fact, women didn’t start wearing heeled shoes until relatively recently, in a move to make them seem more masculine, which at the time meant elegantly airy.

This happened, show curator Elizabeth Semmelhack says, in the 17th century, when our contemporary gender differences began to emerge. “Anything extremely diminutive became closely associated as feminine,” and therefore delicate, thin little heels were eventually worn only by women. Masculinity shifted away from the flamboyant peacocks of the European royal courts to outdoorsy, rugged men of action. Thus, today’s stacked leather heel which, according to Semmelhack, “represents an active engagement with the outside world.” The counterpart, covered heels, where leather is often stretched over the heel to form a solid cover, remained associated with court dress and domesticity. And so, only women’s heels were, and are, covered.

Boot designed by Canadian Master John in 1973

But hold on, you’ll say, what about those super macho platform boots Kiss and other rock stars started wearing in the 70s? Their heels were covered and super tall, isn’t that feminine? Except, as Semmelhack points out, “Platform shoes were borrowed from male examples from other eras, like the court of Louis XIV, not from females.” They were evoking male court dress, not stilettos. In fact, when men wore those heels, they helped to proclaim hyper-masculinity, not some kind of embracing of their feminine side. “They were so self-assured of their maleness,” says Semmelhack, “they can adopt something we usually see as ‘feminine’.” This is why men can get away with the rather high heel of a cowboy boot: the overpoweringly masculine association with the cowboy figure wipes out any feminine association.

The funny thing about feet is that they aren’t one gender or another. Out of context, you’d probably have a hard time identifying male from female. And while there is a small biological difference – women’s feet are predominantly a bit wider at the forefoot and narrower at the heel than men’s of the same length – that has nothing to do with the height of our respective heels. We are simply hardwired by our society and culture to think that tall, thin, dainty heels are for women’s shoes and short, thick, chunky heels are for men.

Chances are these associations will not shift significantly in our lifetimes. But other changes are already afoot: new colours, patinas and bold patterns are emerging on our shoes. Things that used to be considered too feminine (and therefore negative) are gaining popularity as men allow personal style and taste to overcome historical bias. We are starting, from the ground up, to redefine what masculinity can mean.

[All images courtesy the Bata Shoe Museum]