Women Should Not Wear High Heals to Work: TUC
Women strutting around in high heels are a familiar sight at workplaces, especially in the retail sector. Most employers force women workers to wear high heels as part of their dress code, which can cause health problems ranging from leg pains to other serious limb disorders requiring surgical intervention.
Recently, a corrective proposal was put forth at a formal meeting of the Trades Union Congress. Lorraine Jones, a member of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, took the lead in pointing out that nearly two million working days are lost every year due to ‘unhealthy shoes’. She strongly demanded the ‘freedom to dress’ for women and referred to the National Health Service (NHS) data, which shows millions are spent in a single year to treat foot and limb maladies.
The motion that was largely backed by the Congress was however opposed by people like Lorraine Monk of the University and College Union (UCU), who said the issue was not just confined to high-heeled shoes for women, but had to be seen from the perspective of gender equality. Although she agreed with the aims of the resolution, she said the media would only see the move as an act of fashion policing. She questioned the need for such a motion and the compulsion of women to follow the rules made by men. To further stress upon her argument, she referred to a case taken by her union earlier against a college where female lecturers were supposed to cover their arms.
Monk racked up other areas of gender inequality in offices like unequal pay to men and women doing the same work, and threw a challenge to review the women’s charter. She further said that the whole issue of the propriety of dress at workplaces should be debated instead of singling out the use of high heals, and added that women should be allowed to make their own rules.
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