High heels' seductive power over men 'proven' in scientific study
Men more likely to stop in the street or pick up a woman at a bar if her heels are higher
The well-heeled Marilyn Monroe once said, “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.”
The allure of high-heeled shoes is no secret among women, who have used them to entice men from the streets of ancient Rome to the New York City sidewalks. Heels have also been a controversial symbol in the battleground of sexual politics.
Now a scientific study in France has measured their power.
Scientists from the Universite de Bretagne-Sud conducted experiments that showed that men behave very differently toward high-heeled women. The results, published online in the journal , may please the purveyors of Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo shoes – yet frustrate those who think stilettos encourage sexism.
The study found if a woman drops a glove on the street while wearing heels, she’s almost 50 per cent more likely to have a man fetch it for her than if she is wearing flats.
Another finding: A woman wearing heels is twice as likely to persuade men to stop and answer survey questions on the street. And a high-heeled woman in a bar waits half the time to get picked up by a man, compared to when her heel is nearer to the ground.
