Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “On
the Heels of a Recession,” by Penelope Rowlands and Christine
Berrie (Op-Art, July 15):

A woman wears sky-high shoes to gain sex appeal. Heels change her
posture and make her body look curvaceous. Her legs seem longer and her
gait becomes sexier. There’s a reason sex symbols always wear heels.

But the trend to go higher and higher flies in the face of common sense
after Sept. 11, 2001. We all remember, among other horrible images from
that day, the women in downtown Manhattan who had taken off their heels
and desperately fled barefoot. This extreme case exposes the
impracticality of many women’s shoes. Aren’t shoes supposed to offer
mobility, or at least not inhibit it?

Ladies, save your stilettos for special occasions. When you have to
pound the pavement, put head over heels so that you can walk to your job
interviews or workplace with a jaunty, confident gait.

Leora Tanenbaum
New York, July 15, 2010

The writer is the author of “Bad Shoes & the Women Who Love
Them.”