Cinderella's glass slipper...bah humbug

Debbie Jacob

At an event last weekend in Laventille, I constantly glanced at my feet, because at 70, I finally figured out how we all got duped by Cinderella.

Who among us ever realised her wickedness rivalled that of her selfish, bullying stepsisters? Cinderella convinced us that the glass slipper found by the prince when she fled the ball had fitted her foot perfectly, and she could actually run away with one on her other foot. That was bad.

The fairytale, first published in 1812, romanticised impractical, badly-fitting shoes – a leading contributor to our back, hip, knee, ankle and posture problems.

Uncomfortable shoes have never been romantic. They’re a royal pain.

These days the injustice of painful shoes is a hot topic. The Hindustan Times in India wrote a story in August 2022 about how shoes have tortured us over the centuries. The article, The Long History of Heels: From a Symbol of Men’s Power to Women’s Burden, highlighted the problem too.

Elizabeth Seegran summed up the problem with an anecdote about putting moccasins on her newborn baby’s feet.

“My husband thought the shoes were a little silly, given that she wouldn’t be able to walk for a year. But that was beside the point: Most shoes that carry us through life aren’t designed for walking at all,” Seegran said.

The moccasin is the oldest known leather shoe. Archaeologists found a pair in Armenia dating back to 5,500 years ago. Native Americans wore them while hunting buffalo. Moccasins worked well for hunter/gatherers who had to chase their meals over rugged terrain. They didn’t need thick-soled, inflexible shoes. They needed soft, flexible ones that gave their feet protection and comfort at the same time.

But we lost track of that concept on the road to Cinderella.

Over time, Seegran tells us, the priority for shoes became fashion – not function. No one cared about comfort from the time high heels were invented in ancient Persia in the 10th century.

High heels were originally for men, and they were square and chunky. When women adopted the fashion, heels became stilettos – long, slender, spike heels, pretty, but not functional.

Seegran’s research shows that men’s shoes became more comfortable over time, but women’s shoes became more uncomfortable.

It would seem that sports shoes invented in the 20th century would provide equal opportunity comfort for men and women. They did, somewhat, but we weren’t quite there yet.

Those of us with fat, flat feet bore the pain stoically. I never had a pair of shoes that felt comfortable. My feet throbbed even after I took the shoes off.

Still, as Seegran said, “The symbolic power of the heel hasn’t disappeared. Designers continue to create elaborate, fantastical high heels, and consumers continue to snap them up.”

She claims, “There’s a mythology in western culture…this idea that the right pair of fabulous high heels will transform your life.”

Now, the new science of shoes has come up with “barefoot shoes.” Thin soles and total flexibility make them feel like you’re walking barefoot, and the wide toe box allows feet to move naturally – just like moccasins once did.

You can stand, walk and sit in these shoes and never feel uncomfortable. They’re so comfortable, you even forget you’re wearing shoes.

Of course, these shoes are not going to replace high heels. Fashion is too ingrained in us to ever totally consider function firs.

Shoe styles come and go, but it’s difficult to see barefoot shoes disappearing. There will always be people willing to put up with pain for a certain look they want, but it’s good that we now have the choice of how we want our feet to feel and function. That’s important, because our feet are the foundation for our entire body. In many ways, they determine how we feel, emotionally and physically.

I’m disappointed in Cinderella for withholding the whole story about those glass slippers, and blame Disney for hiding the fact that walking in glass slippers would have looked something like walking on skis.

But I’m even more disappointed in those of us who never thought about just how impractical, painful and useless glass slippers would have been. If you’re one of those lucky people who can fit into any shoe and feel comfortable, I envy you, because that’s not the story for most of us.

Even shoes advertised as "wide" were never wide enough for my feet.

Now we have the freedom to walk the way our feet were meant to walk. That’s a very liberating experience.