Teetering Tots in High Heels

As if it’s not enough that the world thought that it’s alright to put young girls through beauty contests donning tiaras and sexy clothes, companies have been satisfying their lust for profit by designing, creating and manufacturing high-heeled shoes for young girls. 

VERY YOUNG GIRLS.

Do we blame the phenomenon of little girls wearing high heels on the Suri Effect? Sur”¦ er what?

When Suri Cruise, daughter of then fairytale couple Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, went strutting in her mum’s heels, a lot of people sneered and thought of it as bad taste.

But celebrities are not called celebrities for nothing, so high heels for girls went on to become a huge trend in the last couple of years despite some protests anyway. A lot of little girls have traded their rubber shoes and sneakers for wedges, glittery pumps and whatnot. Even just the thought of it is leading discerning mums across the world to their slow death.

Quite a few global brands have been enjoying a surge in sales over the last few years, according NPD Group, a marketing research company headquartered in New York. So what is the fuss about the $4billion high heels industry?

The fuss lies in the heels.

There are a number of health risks related to long-term wearing of high heels and doctors’ lists include osteoarthritis of the knee, injured leg muscles, ingrown toenails and plantar fasciitis, among others.

The feet are forced in an unnatural position in high heels that may eventually cause chronic back pains (in case the ingrown nails didn’t scare you enough). Doctors discourage adult women from sashaying too much in high heels. It is but smart for mums to let their kids stay out of the risky high heels, too.

There is an equally disturbing issue attached to little tots in high heels: the sexualisation of children. What is generally considered healthy is letting kids run around in playgrounds and spending as much time as they can outdoors sans the (literal) back-breaking pumps. Encouraging children to wear adult shoes is distorting their self-image a bit too early. It is also a disturbing way of telling people that it’s okay for them to tell your little girl that she’s a small, sexy person””a Carrie Bradshaw on the loose in a sandbox.

There is a campaign going on called “Let Girls Be Girls” that call on retailers to put a stop to selling products that sexualise children.

What we want for children is to look in the mirror and appreciate the reflection that they see, build self-confidence, learn self-respect which are all impossible to do under the guise of false adulthood. Once again, adults are creating a huge storm in children’s supposedly normal lives by pushing them to believe that being your innocent, happy self is a boring choice.

What’s so great about the adult world anyway?