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Ive always wondered why women adopted the fashion of high heels. Who was the first

woman to say These shoes have a third of the surface area of my foot, are difficult to balance on
and sink into anything but firm groundsounds great! What is the appeal of this precarious
footwear and why has it come to be associated with sexy women?
A recent study by Morris et al. (2013) proposed that wearing high heels could be
motivated in part (consciously or unconsciously) by mate attraction and selection efforts. Past
research has identified several sex typical characteristics of gait (females have shorter strides,
slower velocity, faster cadence and greater sway in the hips than males) as well as shown that
these differences can be distinguished by nave observers (Smith, 1999; Smith & Helms, 1999).
Morris et al. proposed that wearing heels amplifies these sex specific aspects of the female gait
and subsequently the womans degree of perceived attractiveness. The researchers hypothesized
that the exaggeration of secondary sex characteristics reinforces a feminine identity and that
women wearing flat shoes would be more frequently mistaken as males than those wearing heels.
If their predictions were incorrect then women wearing high heels would be rated as the same or
as less attractive than women wearing flat shoes and women wearing flats would be correctly
categorized as female as often as women wearing heels.
To create objective walker profiles, the researchers used point-light methodology in
which the movement of 12 female walkers was recorded with trackers placed on the feet, ankles,
legs and spine while wearing either flat shoes or 6 cm heeled shoes (Fig. 1). In their first study
Morris et al. showed 30 second clips of each of the walkers to 15 male and 15 female viewers.
The viewers were asked to rate femininity and attractiveness as well as to place the walker in an
age category. In a second study viewers were told they were going to watch a series of point-light
displays that contained both male and female walkers and were asked to guess the sex of the
walker. However, in reality the researchers had showed them displays of only female walkers
wearing flat or high-heeled shoes.

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Morris et al. found that the ratings of femininity, attractiveness and age given in the first

study were highly correlated and so combined the ratings into a single attractiveness measure.
They found a large and statistically significant main effect for shoe type and attractiveness rating;
both the male and female viewers consistently rated the point light displays of women in the high
heels condition as more attractive than those in the flat shoes condition (Fig. 2).
In the second study more point light displays were inaccurately classified as males when
the women were wearing flat shoes than when in heels. In addition, analysis of the point-light
biomechanics revealed that wearing high heels does emphasize traits characteristic of the female
gait; when wearing high heels walkers had smaller and more frequent steps, less bend at the knees
and hips and more rotation and tilt of the hips (Fig. 3).
The results confirm the researchers hypothesis that wearing high heels emphasizes
feminine aspects of the walkers gait as well as leads to increased perception of attractiveness and
femininity. These differences suggest that womens motivation to wear heels, whether
consciously or unconsciously, may be to increase attractiveness and their affiliation with a
feminine identity by exaggerating sex specific elements of their gait.
I was surprised by the lack of sex differences in judgments of attractiveness. I would have
expected male viewers to be more sensitive to the increased femininity of gait, especially if these
exaggerations are a part of mate attraction. However it is possible that women are equally astute
to the differences in gait so they can better identify potential competitors for mates. This study
provides some fascinating insight into this precarious yet enduring fashion trendthat being said,
I think Ill still stick with my sneakers!

Fig. 1 A screenshot of point-light display (flat shoe condition).

Fig. 2 Mean attractiveness scores for walkers in flat shoes and high heels.

Fig. 3 Differences in gait between walkers in flat shoes and high heels.

References
Morris, P. H., White, J., Morrison, E. R., & Fisher, K. (2013). High heels as supernormal stimuli:
How wearing high heels affects judgements of female attractiveness. Evolution and
Human Behavior, 34(3), 176-181.
Smith, E. O. (1999). High heels and evolution: Natural selection, sexual selection and high heels.
Psychology, Evolution and Gender, 30, 245277.
Smith, E. O., & Helms, W. S. (1999). Natural selection and high heels. Foot and Ankle
International, 20, 5557.