In the study, social psychologist Nicolas Guéguen found that men were more likely to answer survey questions if the woman asking them was wearing heels than if she was wearing flats. Similarly, Guéguen (who has also tackled the research question of whether carrying a guitar case makes a man more likely to succeed in getting a woman’s phone number) found that men were more likely to help a woman pick up a dropped glove if she was wearing heels.

That high heels change how straight men respond to women is hardly surprising. After all, high heels change the way you walk, the way you stand, and the way your clothes fit your body. As a culture, we have decided that the alterations heels produce in how women carry themselves are desirable, a decision we’ve stuck to for over 50 years. In recent years, the trend pendulum in high heels has swung toward atmospherically high, with platforms and hyper-narrow stiletto heels giving way, recently, to 1990s-nostalgia in the form of chunkier heels. These are, in the grand scheme of things, relatively minor variations; our cultural penchant for high heels is entrenched, and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.

A model smiles backstage during the "Eros & Amore" erotic fair in MunichSome have questioned this study’s methodology, and not without reason, but its findings raise some interesting questions. Are men more likely to respond to women in heels because they find them more attractive, and are they more likely to answer survey questions from or help an attractive woman? Or are the men who help a woman in heels pick up her glove correctly perceiving that a woman in heels is in fact, physically, less stable than a woman in flats, and might therefore be more likely to need their help? Or, more interestingly still — and more troublingly — does a woman’s perceived instability and vulnerability make her more physically attractive to some men?

I’ve often felt, when wearing heels, that my ability to quickly flee from potential danger is impeded, and this isn’t the first time that, as a culture, we have decided that women are most attractive when their mobility is restricted. We’ve largely done away with corsets and petticoats. But we still believe that women are sexiest — and many women still feel most confident and powerful — in footwear that often hurts them, causes long term orthopedic damage, and literally makes them less stable and less mobile than men. I’m not calling for a feminist ban on pumps, but their persistence does make you wonder.

This study invites other questions about the effects of high heels on people’s perception of a woman. How do high heels affect one’s perceived credibility, or intelligence? Do men and women respond differently when asked to assess the credibility of a woman in heels?

Pro-Russian rebels stand near a monument during a ceremony to honour the World War Two defenders of Donetsk from Nazi forces in DonetskThese aren’t just questions about how to build a wardrobe or how to plan an outfit. Our clothes and our footwear play an enormous role in shaping people’s assumptions about us — of our wealth, our competence, our intelligence, our sexual availability and morality, and our power. These are all perceptions that are intertwined. Often, these assumptions are made in a split second, and once made, they’re difficult to shake. For women who are applying for or doing jobs that grant them power and authority, the question of how to present themselves is particularly vexing — ask any woman who’s ever run for office.

It would be easy to dismiss social science around high heels as frivolous, as questions of style, and not substance. In fact, the subject area goes to core questions of power: how we gain it, how we wield it, how we lose it. It also raises fascinating questions about power, attraction, and gender, and like this study, it raises more questions than it answers — a good sign of a subject area that merits further exploration. And then, of course, there’s question I always ask myself when I walk in the door after a long night out in high heels, the balls of my feet burning and my calf muscles loudly complaining: why on earth did I think these shoes were a good idea?

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