Lay Off My Shoes

I have never claimed to be a typical woman. I do not always play by the gender rules, and I don't usually buy into the stereotypes. In fact, I sometimes consciously buck the expectations just because I can. But the shoe thing... the shoe thing is a gender norm that I truly do not understand.

Women are supposed to be fascinated with shoes. We're supposed to love shopping for shoes, wearing shoes, admiring shoes... they're a part of fashion that's supposed to be our weakness. And I just don't get it. I know, I know, PB is going to be appalled, but it's true. I simply do not understand what all the fuss is about.

Clothes I get. Clothes can really affect the way you look; colors can bring out your eyes or skin tone. Different styles and tailoring can flatter your figure or make you look taller or thinner. Those things I understand. I can understand the necessity of taking fashion into account when choosing clothes. But shoes? I just do not understand. Aside from the fact that heels make your legs look better if you're wearing a skirt, and the fact that your shoes need to match the rest of your outfit or you look sloppy and careless, I don't understand the need for stylish/uncomfortable shoes.

My priorities in shoes are comfort and practicality. As long as they don't clash with what I'm wearing, as long as they're the proper level of casual, professional, or formal, the rest doesn't matter much. I can recognize that certain shoes are cuter than others, but if cute shoes are uncomfortable, I don't see how they're worth wearing.

For example: I hate when my feet are cold and wet. So, while I recognize that my snow boots are not cute, I still wear them because they keep my feet warm, dry, and cozy. And while pointy-toed stilettos may be cute, I can't walk in them, and they're not comfortable, so I definitely won't be buying or wearing them.

To me this seems self-explanatory. My feet are more important to me than style, and falling down looks much worse than wearing flats. But this is not clear to other people. It's not that I'm on some holier-than-thou rant here. I'm not saying that fashion is completely unimportant or that being serious about my work somehow renders appearance beneath my notice. It's just that I hate being uncomfortable, and I can't afford to be falling down all the time or taking nine years to walk from my office to the copy room. There are certain sacrifices that I'm simply not willing to make for the sake of appearance.

One of my friends and fellow staff members is constantly ribbing me for a pair of black shoes that I own. I get that they're not stylish. They're square-toed sort of loafers. But they're incredibly comfortable. And, perhaps the most important thing about them, especially for leading worship on Sundays, is that they don't make any noise. They have some sort of rubber composite soles (again, I know, not attractive) but they don't make distracting clacking sounds when I walk around the wood-floored chancel. I have enough to be thinking about when I'm leading worship. I don't need to be worrying about how to walk just-so to keep from making too much noise when I'm walking from the pews to the lectern. So, until I find some cute, comfortable, silent shoes to replace the "hideous" shoes I have, I'm going to keep wearing them.

Or maybe I'll just train my congregation that the chancel area is "sacred ground", so I shouldn't wear any shoes there at all. Think it'll work?