infinite improbability

Foot binding, American style

I'd never heard of it till a few months ago when I happend to see an issue of Vogue, but apparently the new plastic surgery rage is to get cosmetic foot surgery so as to look good in your pricey Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik shoes. The Vogue article was favorable to the practice, though in an attempt to appear balanced, they threw in a few contrary opinions.

Sunday's New York Times had a very critical story on the trend, which seems to be driven by women who have already destroyed their feet by wearing poorly fitting shoes, and who are willing to go to any lengths, even having parts of their toes cut off, just to be able to keep wearing their fashionable shoes. The vast majority of podiatrists oppose cosmetic foot surgery and their professional organizations are planning on making formal positions condemning the practice, but there are still podiatrists out there who are either so shallow as individuals that they would rather risk their patient's health for the sake of fashion, or else they are just so greedy that they don't care. Dr. Levine, who's quoted in the NY Times article, said in the Vogue story that she wears stilletos even when in the operating room. Changing the shape of a perfectly good foot just because it doesn't look good in strappy sandals is asking for all sorts of problems, from foot pain, to shin, knee and back problems.

The quote that takes the cake is Levine's statement that she's "simply fulfilling a need, a need to wear stylish shoes." Yeah, you're going to potentially cause permant problems just so that someone can look good. There isn't that big of a difference between the foot binding that was practiced in China and what a lot of women are putting themselves through now. The only difference is that we're more "civilized" about it.