High heels and other ramblings.........

Watched the Tour de France presentations yesterday. Alberto Contador won. I am not a cyclist, but what galled me were the two females who stood alongside each winner on the podium, dressed like fashion models. What the hell were they doing there? How stupid is it to feature women who are not athletes in a presentation to iron cyclists? If the women chosen had been young cyclists themselves, striving for greatness in the sport, that would have been appropriate. But to have a bunch of broads standing there is insulting both to the cyclists and to their female counterparts. Just so French, I thought. If it had been a women's race, would there have been male fashion models or Chipmunk dancers standing there for the presentations? Maybe in France there would have been.

My daughter, a world-class athlete, thinks it's no big deal and that I am overacting. It's just a tradition, she says and shrugs. But she can enter any race, just as a man can, and she can beat thousands of men any time she wants. Women of my generation had to fight to create the opportunities our daughters now take for granted. Thank God for that. I guess their ho-hum means we succeeded.

Then I read an article praising shoes to the hilt. Yes, I do think high heels empower women in social settings. I did not know that over their lifetime, the average woman spends $26,000 on shoes. About seven pairs a year. I am way over that. High heels are the private domain of women; men can't get into this arena. It's the one attribute that we own, where we can make a statement. And we all know that when you describe a woman as wearing "sensible shoes" it is a damning comment. The article ends with a quote from a high-powered woman entrepreneur who says..."There's nothing like a killer pair of high heels to immediately boost your mood and make you feel strong and powerful. I don't leave the house without at least six inches under my soles. Some may say it's keeping me down as a woman, but I say just the opposite."

I totally agree.