London:
An outrage has erupted among professional women as Britain's Trade Union Congress moved to defend workers against the "killer heels" by voting to ban stilettos at workplace.
After the struggle over decades for the downtrodden, comes the battle against the "killer heels". Delegates at the TUC conference in Liverpool on Wednesday labelled the style sexist and voted to ban high heels in the workplace.
According to
The Times newspaper, delegates at the Congress approved a motion that read: "High heels may look glamorous on the Hollywood catwalks but are completely inappropriate for the day-to-day working environment".
The move has won support from doctors but derision from women. It has also sparked a row, with the TUC being criticised for discussing trivial matters. Karren Brady, the director of Birmingham City Football Club, said she would rather have her laptop taken away than her high heels.
Nadine Dorries, the Conservative parliamentarian for Mid-Bedfordshire, said it seemed the unions were short of serious issues and were discussing trivial matters.
The lawmaker declared that she wears high heels because she is small and needs to be able to stand up to her male colleagues.
"I'm 5ft 3in and need every inch of my Louboutin heels to look my male colleagues in the eye," said Dorries, "If high heels were banned in Westminster, no one would be able to find me," the lawmaker said, adding "My job (in the Commons) is male-dominated, and the men I work with have killer instincts".
The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (SCP), which is leading the campaign, said it was not trying to outlaw stilettos at work.
"This is not a trivial problem. We are not trying to ban high heels they are good for glamming up but not good for the workplace. Women should have a choice of wearing healthier, more comfortable shoes," said its spokesman Lorraine Jones.
According to chiropodists, high heels increase pressure on the balls of the feet, the hips and the knees.
In an SCP survey released last week, four out of 10 women admitted to wearing shoes they knew did not fit properly simply because they were fashionable.
Even as applauding the SCP for "pointing out the dangers," Dorries said it should be left to me and every other woman in the land to decide whether or not we wear high heels (to work).
"Men have the killer instinct; we have the killer heels. If you want to know how that works, try taking them off us," she was quoted as saying by
The Independent daily.