UNwanted Inventions

[Guy N. Heels]

In this week's Parade Magazine's ask Marilyn column Marilyn vos Savant lists the 10 most unwanted inventions. Topping the list at number one is - you guessed it - High Heels. How about some discussion on this?

[jmc]

Hmmm, I wonder -- how many heels do all the plethora of manufacturers sell every year? (And they'd sell even more if they made them a couple sizes bigger. . .) Sorry Marilyn -- you may not like 'em but they are wanted by a whole bunch of people.

[hoverfly]

These are women who don't wear high heels often and the demographics of that type of article is targeted at educated women of the baby boomer's where flats were the in thing.

[Guy N. Heels]

These are women who don't wear high heels often and the demographics of that type of article is targeted at educated women of the baby boomer's where flats were the in thing.

The part I can't seem to get my mind around is: If any woman really doesn't like high heels - why wear them? There are plenty of non-heeled women's shoes available, and some are remarkably fashionable. So who's putting a gun to their heads and making them wear 'em? If I don't like something, I simply don't buy it.

[new_look]

yeah, and a fair few of them would answer that men pressure them into wearing cos they feel they have to try and look attractive............ they pressure themselves into it because women compete among themselves to look better and more attractive than the women around them. therefore if they know everyone else is wearing them, they have to too or they wont feel as attractive as them. celebrity rolemodels and magazines also contribute i suspect of course there are plenty who enjoy heels as a lot of us here would agree

[Dr. Shoe]

There are many "flatters" who would dearly love to be "able to" wear heels. How often do you see on Ebay: "bought these on impulse but they're too high for me!"?

[Guy N. Heels]

...they pressure themselves into it because women compete among themselves to look better and more attractive than the women around them. therefore if they know everyone else is wearing them, they have to too or they wont feel as attractive as them. celebrity rolemodels and magazines also contribute i suspect...

One of the most shocking things I ever discovered is that women dress for other women! What with some women's clothes and shoes going for upwards of $500, I would have surely thought that women dress for their men. But NOPE, not so. Let just one gal in a crowd show up in heels or a particularly stunning gown or hair-do and then every gal in the room has to have one or even more: expensive, higher, whatever. So my basic question remains - who put the gun to their head(s) and made 'em wear heels against their will?

[inscapable]

When someone disses someone else's choice, they're just struggling inside about something, like what they don't like about theirselves.

[pata]

In this week's Parade Magazine's ask Marilyn column Marilyn vos Savant lists the 10 most unwanted inventions. Topping the list at number one is - you guessed it - High Heels. How about some discussion on this?

I am quite shocked and suprised. The same would be to say we do not need arts or other beautiful things around us, or, the same- our clothes- why are then skirts, shirts etc. *wanted* when people could be dressed with a simple gunnysack too.

As to me I think it is about a little bit aestetic or even beauty in everdaylife - the same as lots of other *lifestyle* or *luxury* products are- partly since centuries.

[shrimper]

What I notice while out and about is that most women in heels are single. Married women are more into comfort or at least less attention-getting footwear. I have observer many of my coworkers and associates go through this also. When they get into a relationship off come the heels.

[crotchboots-m]

as some wag put it "fuck them and the horses they rode in on"

[johnieheel]

Nice choice of words! Any how, who cares what women think about me and my heels...My GF loves it and we love it together and thats all I need. By the way out of curiousity, what was #1?

[Guy N. Heels]

By the way out of curiousity, what was #1?

I guess you didn't read it, mate, but heels was number one, followed by things like boom boxes and leaf blowers.

[hoverfly]

What I notice while out and about is that most women in heels are single. Married women are more into comfort or at least less attention-getting footwear.

I have observer many of my coworkers and associates go through this also. When they get into a relationship off come the heels.

My Gf and I have been to gether comming up on 5 years, it's a PITA to get her to wear heels more than ever.

[johnieheel]

I guess you didn't read it, mate, but heels was number one, followed by things like boom boxes and leaf blowers.

Sorry, will pay more attention. All I can say to that is Marilyn has issues!

[Guy N. Heels]

Sorry, will pay more attention. All I can say to that is Marilyn has issues!

Yeah, for a brainy gal with an IQ around 200, she's got a few issues. I notice that she isn't answering my mail either.

[Dawn HH]

I think that this gal has some real issues somewhere. If she thinks that she can start a movement to outlaw the use of heels, she better have another think. Women in practically all countries in the world wear heels and they can't seem to get enough. Heck---look how many of us guys here can't get enough heels. And why do very young girls get that "I just can't wait till I get old enough where Mom will buy my first pair of heels for me" attitude. "I'll feel so grown up when she does". For being so smart it makes you wonder where her mind is. I think that there will always be high heels of some type available somewhere, but none-the-less available. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[Stormie]

I've never heard of Parade Magazine and have no idea who Marilyn is, but I can't help but wonder: if high heels had never been invented, would any of you lot be trying to modify flats to make your own heels? Would you desire what you have never had? Heels would be pretty high up on my own list of unwanted inventions too, not all women enjoy being in pain, walking at a snail's pace and wobbling about like a jelly with Parkinson's. From the women at my work who do wear heels, I would be inclined to agree that they do it for other women and to try to appear more attractive - one who's 5-foot-nothing wears them to get a bit of height, another wears them purely from the fashion aspect (she is a bit of a chav) another says that she hates them and they hurt her but "it's weird not to if you're going out". Every time I have pulled I have been wearing trainers, one time that I wore a pair of high (for me, low for you) heeled courts for a fancy dress event I received NO compliments from men but plenty from women.

[Guy N. Heels]

I've never heard of Parade Magazine and have no idea who Marilyn is, but I can't help but wonder: if high heels had never been invented, would any of you lot be trying to modify flats to make your own heels? Would you desire what you have never had?

Heels would be pretty high up on my own list of unwanted inventions too, not all women enjoy being in pain, walking at a snail's pace and wobbling about like a jelly with Parkinson's. From the women at my work who do wear heels, I would be inclined to agree that they do it for other women and to try to appear more attractive - one who's 5-foot-nothing wears them to get a bit of height, another wears them purely from the fashion aspect (she is a bit of a chav) another says that she hates them and they hurt her but "it's weird not to if you're going out".

Every time I have pulled I have been wearing trainers, one time that I wore a pair of high (for me, low for you) heeled courts for a fancy dress event I received NO compliments from men but plenty from women.

Hi Stormie , and thanx for yer input.

For those who have never heard of Marilyn, she is Marilyn vos Savant, a brainy 40 something Menza type who reportedly has an IQ rating near 200. That would put her about 20 points higher than Einstein. She writes a syndicated column called ask Marilyn for Parade Magazine, which is a weekly magazine that is inserted into the Sunday edition of most of the major newspapers in the USA. She's pretty good at figuring out puzzles and riddles and she often poses questions to pique readers interest. Sometimes her topics (like this week's) are a little off-beat.

So my question to you is: If you don't like heels, why do you wear them?

[Stormie]

So my question to you is: If you don't like heels, why do you wear them?

I don't .

I wore heels to that fancy dress event because I was going as Lois Lane, and as far as I can see from pictures she wears court shoes - it's because I was dressing up as the character, not out of free choice for the shoes. It wasn't so much the height on those that I think was the problem, more that they have quite a narrow heel (for me) and they are a cheapo pair and not a great shape. I own one other pair of heeled shoes (ankle boots) that I bought for Shakedown's benefit, but they get worn so rarely they're not really worth counting. I'd bin or sell both pairs if I didn't think someone would trash-dive to get them back.

[Firefox]

I think it's a pretty weird description saying they are an unwanted invention. After all everyone has the choice to wear heels or not. On my list of unwanted inventions would be nuclear weapons, suicide bombs, guns, explosives, and extreme religious doctrines. Those are things which affect people's lives when they have no choice in the matter.

[Guy N. Heels]

I don't .

I wore heels to that fancy dress event because I was going as Lois Lane, and as far as I can see from pictures she wears court shoes - it's because I was dressing up as the character, not out of free choice for the shoes. It wasn't so much the height on those that I think was the problem, more that they have quite a narrow heel (for me) and they are a cheapo pair and not a great shape. I own one other pair of heeled shoes (ankle boots) that I bought for Shakedown's benefit, but they get worn so rarely they're not really worth counting. I'd bin or sell both pairs if I didn't think someone would trash-dive to get them back.

People's answers never cease to amaze me. What you should care after you decide to put the shoes in the dustbin, I really can't fathom. But we do have a forum here where you can sell the shoes, assuming that they'll fetch a farthing or two, as opposed to tossing them in the dustbin.

[Stormie]

After all everyone has the choice to wear heels or not. On my list of unwanted inventions would be nuclear weapons, suicide bombs, guns, explosives, and extreme religious doctrines. Those are things which affect people's lives when they have no choice in the matter.

Oh yeah, if I were being serious about the whole thing then those would be my unwanted inventions. But if I was writing a light-hearted article for a magazine (or chatting about it with my mates, or random strangers on a message board...) then it's a different story. Of course I would much rather nuclear bombs weren't invented than high heels, and I'm sure Marilyn would too.

What you should care after you decide to put the shoes in the dustbin, I really can't fathom. But we do have a forum here where you can sell the shoes, assuming that they'll fetch a farthing or two, as opposed to tossing them in the dustbin.

They are not destined for the bin just yet. I'd probably try and flog them first anyway, on ebay or a boot sale or something, and if that failed there's plenty of charity shops and other places to donate them. I don't care if a stranger gets my shoes. Thinking that anyone at all might be rooting through my dustbin is disturbing, not who ultimately ends up with the shoes/boots.

My comment was more that a certain someone would go trash diving to get them back. If I threw them away (sold them, donated them, whatever) it would be symbolic - I don't want them any more, but I don't want him to have them either. If someone I don't know gets them then I can live with that; I don't know them, so I won't find out what they get up to with/in my old shoes.

[Firefox]

You could get pleasure from a TV programme, a work of art, finding your peace in the woods, or finding a pair of shoes you like in the trash. Be they an unwanted invention or not, discovering something you aspire to is pretty harmless form of expression.

[inscapable]

Yeah, for a brainy gal with an IQ around 200, she's got a few issues. I notice that she isn't answering my mail either.

Her IQ aint around 200. She screws the pooch all the time in her column. We've post her f-ups and the right answer above our platoon's toilets at least one Sunday out of the month. She might fool the people and the publishers, but she don't fool the rest of us. She's a cheat, probably a liar, but definately ain't got no 200 IQ, know what I'm saying?

[Guy N. Heels]

Her IQ aint around 200. She screws the pooch all the time in her column. We've post her f-ups and the right answer above our platoon's toilets at least one Sunday out of the month. She might fool the people and the publishers, but she don't fool the rest of us. She's a cheat, probably a liar, but definately ain't got no 200 IQ, know what I'm saying?

Measured IQ ratings are very ambiguous, at best. Somewhere someone once came up with the notion that a standard test could be administered to determine a person's IQ level, and immediately IQ ratings became a source of intellectual vanity. So much so that they still refuse to let their bubble burst, even after it was pointed-out that a person who couldn't read or write couldn't take their test, therefore it was really a reading test.

But if the colleges and psych nuts are getting all puffed-up over IQ scores, none are more so than the MENSA members. Apparently they are a mutual-admiration society who love to stroke their own and each other's egos, no matter that they don't have sense enough to get in outta the rain. In truth, a person's real intelligence is best measured by their ability to solve problems - like how to survive a sudden snowstorm out in the wilderness. If you gave the average college professor a knife and a fishing line and shoved him out of a plane in the middle of the night over uncharted hostile territory you would have a much better evaluation of their real intelligence. Most of them would never be heard from again.

I won't say Marilyn ain't got brains, but I'm far from impressed. I can shoot holes in most of Marilyn's nonsense and have done so many times. (Like I said, she doesn't answer my mail.)

[hoverfly]

Personally no matter how high one's IQ is, they must have a good deal of common sense in order to use it. I meet some very smart people, not very bright in the common sense category.

[Dawn HH]

Stormie:-) You may want to dump your shoes into the trashbin or dustbin in your country, but here in the U.S. if you went for your shoes there , this would be considered trash diving or dumpster diving and you are right---someone would find them and take them. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[Stormie]

You may want to dump your shoes into the trashbin or dustbin in your country, but here in the U.S. if you went for your shoes there , this would be considered trash diving or dumpster diving and you are right---someone would find them and take them.

I'm not quite sure I understand you. People 'dumpster dive' in the UK too, although we don't call skips and bins dumpsters. I work in a mall and you often see staff (and the public is they can get in!) raiding the bins of others shops to see if they can get free stuff - usually when HMV or Waterstone's clear out their stockrooms. I'm pretty sure it's illegal, I thik someone told me once that even though you have thrown it away if someone went through the bin for it it is still stealing.

Measured IQ ratings are very ambiguous, at best.

I was going to say something along those lines myself. IQ ratings are not a measure of intelligence, they are just a measure of how well you have done on a particular test. It is commonly theorised that there are 7 intelligences (testing my own memory here but I think Gardner, 1967, put that forward) and IQ tests barely cover 4 of them. IQ tests are largely on paper; not very easy to complete if you can't read (Einstein had dyslexia so quite how his IQ was measured I don't know). They are not universal and scores can be improved with practice. IQ tests (and the resultant scores) can be a useful guideline for intelligence in the classical sense but it should never be taken as Gospel that a high score indicates a clever person.

[Dawn HH]

I have never heard here whether dumpster diving is legal or illegal, but it is definately done. The homeless do it daily to look for clothing, food, shoes, blankets or whatever they can find to help with their existance. I quite agree with you that an IQ test doesn't show the smartness of a person per se, but they still use them anyway. Cheers--- Dawn HH