Biomechanical difference between m/w when walking in heels

[Firefox]

Quite an interesting site:

http://www.umich.edu/~mvs330/map.html

They have done various studies of people walking in heels and other motion studies. To be honest it's quite low level student research on a very basic footing but dressed up with some fancy words to give them extra points for their course. However, there's a fair variety of different projects including some discussion on male versus female wearing techniques. That was funny - they reached no conclusion because their male subject was a completely inexperienced wearer!

[Highluc]

Any experienced wearer from the Michigan area to help those guys in a honest study?

[hoverfly]

Apparently they were unaware of the of this data base.

[Firefox]

Yeah, talk about flawed research. Here they are trying measuring minute differences in gait and the poor guy was given "ten minutes to walk around" to get used to them. Still, it's an interesting concept which I haven't seen explored elsewhere, at least not online.

[Driver8]

Lots of interesting studies, but the one referenced is here:

http://www.umich.edu/~mvs330/f98/stilettos/main.html

[JeffB]

It is interesting to wonder if the fact that men now do not wear high heels might be due to some type of biomechanical difference between the genders which makes wearing high heeled shoes undesirable for them.

After reading that paragraph from the so-called "study" on males walking in high heels, I had to chuckle. Biomechanical difference? What a load of crap! The real reason men don't wear high heels has nothing to do with biomechanics, kinetics or any other twenty dollar word those eggheads could dream up, and everything to do with societal stigma because such shoes are classified as an article of clothing that only women wear.

For men to wear high heels would unfairly label them as being effeminate, strange, abnormal, even gay, none of which is true of course, but the stigma regarding that has long since been established. And since machismo is very important to men these days, anything that would deviate from that image represents a risk 99 percent of males are simply unwilling, or just plain afraid to take. I wish THAT had been mentioned in their study.

As for the test subjects themselves, I watched the video and thought that the fellow on the right looked a bit more steady than the guy on the left. It would also have been helpful to know what height those heels were. If you're gonna slap three inchers on a guy for the very first time and tell him to walk across the floor, naturally, you're gonna get a rather awkward gait. All in all, that study didn't impress me.

[HighBoots]

Read the discussion part :

It could not be proven that men do not wear high heeled shoes because of gender differences causing less balance.

[Firefox]

They couldn't prove anything with a study that limited. As I said originally, it doesn't pretend to be anything other than very low level student research. The woman in charge of the course obvioulsy has a set format she hands out to the students to base their work on. It's no less interesting for all that though.

[Dr. Shoe]

Actually: There is a biomechanical difference between men and women with regard to high heel wearing. Women have an extra layer of fat (sorry ladies no offence meant) and also tend to have a wider pelvis which means that the angle between the legs with the ankles together is greater for women than it is for men which in theory means that men can manage heels better than women. That's the theory, however, like anything else it is a matter of experience.

[Firefox]

I've seen it posted freqently that women have much more flexible ankles and so can cope with higher heels more easily. Fact or fiction?

[PJ]

I will admit I am no expert regarding this subject. But could it be possible the reason why women wear heels better than men is that because women are generally lighter (in weight) than men? I can speak from experience. When I was younger and weighed less, it was easier to walk around in heels. PJ

[Maryanne]

I wish I weighed less now than when I was younger!

[Sue13]

I think that sex has no bearing on the wearing of heels as I make my husband wear 5" stilletoes most of the time and he probably walks in them better than most women I know, also there are alot of women who can't even walk in heels, so if they were supposed to be "better at it" then they should supposedly find it a lot easier. I think it is a practice thing because in society women are allowed to wear them and men are not, therefore most women have at least some practice at wearing heels before they're even 13 whilst most men, on the otherhand, haven't a clue about wearing them or even a chance! Sorry lads Sue

[PJ]

I think that sex has no bearing on the wearing of heels as I make my husband wear 5" stilletoes most of the time and he probably walks in them better than most women I know,

You have made me envious. Does he also crossdress?

PJ

[hoverfly]

I will admit I am no expert regarding this subject. But could it be possible the reason why women wear heels better than men is that because women are generally lighter (in weight) than men? I can speak from experience. When I was younger and weighed less, it was easier to walk around in heels.

PJ

My GF is no light weight, but she gets around in heels very well. She wore a pair of boots with a 1/2" plat and a 4" that we purched over the weekend to work yesterday. Every body asked her at work how could she walk in them. Of course the response was......now lets say it all at once everybody....... Practice!!!

But she also was in ballet and gymnastics when she was younger. Also, before we met, she was doing yoga. So a key factor here is flexibility, this obviously helps from the start. I believe women are more flexible from the start then men are, so they have an advantage in mastering the high heel in a shorter period of time.

[spiky heels]

Sue, perhaps you could give us your thoughts in the forum "what women think about men in heels" that is of course if you are happy to discuss your view point. As you say, I agree that probably most men couldn't walk in heels but perhaps it's a case of practice makes perfect rather than a gender related inability.

[Firefox]

It doesn't take that much practice to walk around in 3 to 4 inch heels. More than 10 minutes maybe, but a few days on and off is all that's needed.

[Francis]

I find it rather puzzling that people can claim that women are more flexible than men. This cannot be further from the truth. Everyone is born with the same degree of flexibility, what changes is the individuals body due to lifestyle and circumstances. I have always been more flexible than my sister. I could get my feet behind my neck when I was younger which she never could. Not that I can anymore, but with practice (there's that word again!) I probably could! If you fail to practice then even the most basic functions become laboured or forced, being flexible is just one of them. So it all comes down to one thing, practice and more practice. Exercising the muscles and stretching them, be they mental or physical. There some things that you learn and never forget (riding a bicycle), but you can still lose if balance is not practised. Women are generally thought to be more flexible due to the fact that females are encouraged to take part in exercises that keep them in shape and there muscles exercised (ballet, aerobics, gymnastics) while men are more often encouraged to take part in other activities (football, rugby, cricket). There is no denying that a gymnast is far more flexible than a footballer which just points out the truth of it all. So women are not naturally more flexible, just more conditioned than men.

[Dr. Shoe]

I agree. Flexibility or suppleness is only due to both doing gymnastics from an early age and maintaining a habit of stretching and exercise such as yoga. A degree of suppleness can be restored if you were to take up yoga or gymnastics at a later age but not entirely. When a child is born, their skeleton is almost entirely cartilage much of which (70%) calcifies within the first few months becoming bone. It is only the middle section of the bone that calcifies first and as the person gets older the calcified portion increases until only the extreme ends remain as a gristly cartilage lubricated by collagen. In fact, arthritis is a condition in which the antibodies attack these collagens making the knuckles dry and rough so that when they rub together it causes pain. One therapy with proven results is to replace the collagen by taking a preparation of collagen hydrosylate either in pill form or as a diet supplement of some sort. But I digress. :sleeping: The only reason why it was traditionally said that women had more flexible ankles was because women always wore heels even when doing the housework . This had the effect on the ankle that yoga or regular gymnastic exercise has on the rest of the body, the exaggerated motions involved in walking in heels helped keep the foot supple and kept arthritis at bay- which explains why elderly women often have arthritis in hands, wrists, elbows, hips and knees but seldom in their ankles! Whereas male sufferers would also have it in their feet. Also, ricketts was a condition closely linked to malnutrition (and a defficiency in vitamin C?) because the calcification process was propagated at an uneven rate, twisting of the long bones would occur causing the bandy legs and bent arms. Fortunately, the effects can be reversed by paying careful attention to diet.

[JeffB]

I doubt that weight has anything to do with females being able to walk better in heels than males. I weigh 215 and I don't have a problem at all. In fact, I tend to think that I'm pretty light on my feet when I'm in heels. And I've lost rack of how many women at the office complex I work at who've told me that they'd break their necks if they wore the heels I regularly strut around in. As with any skill, all it takes is practice.

[hoverfly]

Women are generally thought to be more flexible due to the fact that females are encouraged to take part in exercises that keep them in shape and there muscles exercised (ballet, aerobics, gymnastics) while men are more often encouraged to take part in other activities (football, rugby, cricket). There is no denying that a gymnast is far more flexible than a footballer which just points out the truth of it all.

So women are not naturally more flexible, just more conditioned than men.

You said it better than I did Francis. "Conditioning" would be the better definition. My point was that the type of exercise that women do gives them more flexibility and the advantage. It was not by biologics I was comparing between man women, but what most women do to be this flexible and maintain it.

But then again...A misunderstanding some times stirs up a bee hive up in a good way

[Bubba136]

But then again...A misunderstanding some times stirs up a bee hive up in a good way

It can more often have the opposite effect....especially when one doesn't carefully analyze the cause before firing a full broadside in disagreement.

[Sue13]

You have made me envious. Does he also crossdress?

PJ[/quote

Be careful what you wish for, it might come true!!

Don't be envious of my husband PJ as he is now living with the consequences of his decisions and would probably be envious of you as he only gets to wear trousers at work.

Sue]

[Firefox]

There's very little anotomical difference between men and women with regards to legs. If anything, men have a greater proportion of muscle which is beneficial to wearing heels. Fat justs adds dead weight whereas muscle contributes to support the feet and ankles in different positions. Most people who argue that only women should or can wear heels properly are merely arguing from the point of view of what turns them on without any regard to logic.

[PJ]

....Most people who argue that only women should or can wear heels properly are merely arguing from the point of view of what turns them on without any regard to logic.

I see nothing wrong with that.

Just call me a lightbulb and "turn me on".

PJ

[Firefox]

OK, consider yourself turned on

[Bubba136]

Sue13 wrote: " I make my husband wear 5" stilletoes most of the time and he probably walks in them better than most women I know" You have to make your husband wear them? He doesn't like to wear them on his own?

[Bria]

I think it is a practice thing because in society women are allowed to wear them and men are not, therefore most women have at least some practice at wearing heels before they're even 13 whilst most men, on the otherhand, haven't a clue about wearing them or even a chance!

Sorry lads

Sue

Im sure glad Im not most men.... I started wearing my moms when I was 5 so I gues thats now 35 years for me....... no wonder shoe store clerks get upset that I can manage heels better then they can

[JeffB]

Well, I've been wearing high heels for 30 years now (I'm 43) and I can walk in them just as well, if not better than most women. In fact, I've had female co-workers at the office tell me they'd break their necks in the heels they've seen me wear, and they were dead serious about that too! So, as with anything in life, if you practice long enough and hard enough at a given activity, you CAN become proficient at it! And that includes wearing heels!!!

[Highluc]

I remember about a year ago during the first Euro heel meet walking back to our cars at a good pace due to rain in Rotterdam (after a full day walking around in heels), Firefox dropped back from our group (of 9 guys) to check how we all walked on heels (most wore at least 3-inch heels). I also dropped back and saw at least half of us walking very naturally (incidently the guys with the highest heels), while the rest didn't do that bad but still missed some flowing moves in their walk. It would be interesting to see how those latter guys evolved after a year of practice.