I have a dilemma. I want my blog to help you make better choices about skincare. But today, women’s issues are at the forefront of my mind. I blame our 24 hour news cycle and the constant unrelenting reality that the most powerful person on Twitter and this planet endorses the anti-thesis of gender equality.
Land of the Rising Sun
This blog starts with #KuToo, the Japanese offspring of #MeToo. A Japanese lady was made to wear high heels while working at a funeral parlour. She (unsurprisingly) started a petition to scrap gender biased dress codes for the workplace.
In response to the “high heel” petition, Japan’s Health and Labour Minister said:
“It is socially accepted as something that falls within the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate.”
If this minister is anything to go by, Japan’s workplace attitude to women need a botox, chemical peel and fillers to bring them in line with this century’s workplace practices.
If only it stopped at #KuToo
There is (always) more complexity then meets the eye. Many men and women don’t think “high-heels” merit the same attention as breaking the glass ceiling. Women need to save their #MeToo cache for the really important fights.
Enter Christian Louboutin (CL)
This is where feminism falls flat on itself: Women can’t view high heels as a form of enforced beauty standards and also argue that they feel empowered wearing high heels in the workplace.
Ergo high heels are not related to gender equality in the workplace.
If they did, CL would be out of business. The average price of a pair of CL’s statement red soled shoes is £685* or INR 60,500.
So, what do I really think in my bones?
I believe we cannot make progress if men are not on the same page as us. Men need to buy into the idea of female empowerment, as a means of acquiring gender equality. We ostracise a large portion of our would-be supporters if men feel threatened or do not understand movements such as #MeToo.
In fact, when rationale sounding women (Meghan McCain) side with misogynistic men (Mike Pence), our basic human rights as women are threatened.
I am frightened: if a realistic challenge to Roe v Wade takes place in the USA, the bastion of democracy and freedom, think of how much worse things will get for women everywhere.
I am getting my head around some of these issues.
1) I don’t understand why “female related issues” are constantly boxed into rules of engagement.
This is not the Cuban missile crisis, where the President John F Kennedy adopts rules of engagement on how to interact with the Soviets.
Women are still finding their voice. I am permitted to have a completely opposite view to my sister. We can still both be feminists.
And yes, I don’t have all the answers and nor does feminism. There, I have said it.
But I definitively know that our workplaces are designed by men for their convenience. Is that really so hard to believe? If you had a blank canvas, would you completely ignore that 50% of your employees need childcare at some point in their careers? Would you construct a swanky office with the best views of a city skyline with no onsite childcare?
2) The joy of CL shoes
At £685, a pair of CL shoes are a man’s equivalent of buying a red Ferrari. Your car (like the shoes) are status symbols and visually announce to the world, that you’ve made it to the top 1%.
If you can afford a £685+ pair of shoes, the chances are, that they are not your only pair of high heels. Also, I am willing to bet that you are not required or compelled to wear them for 10 hours a day.
The bulk of CL owners are in all likelihood not receptionists.
3) Successful women have a propensity to see gender equality issues through the window of their limited experience.
For them, shattering the glass ceiling is more important than high heels. I have said this before and I’ll say it again: a Wall street banker failing to get a promotion is equally heartbreaking as a receptionist fired because she won’t wear high heels.
But poorer women and women of colour are disproportionately affected if they do not adhere to social / workplace rules.
I am willing to bet that an American office receptionist in her US$ 20 pair of high heels cannot afford to lose her job. But Ms. “I am on the board of 5 companies and wear CL shoes”, can afford to lose her job.
The irony is, the narrative of current women issues is dictated by successful women ignorant of the plight of other women. Would #MeToo have started were it not a Hollywood actress who became its face?
In case you are wondering, #KuToo is spearheaded by a Japanese actress and writer.