Heels really do make women look good
Women wearing heels are rated as more attractive than when wearing
flat shoes, even when the people who are making the judgment are unable
to see their faces or bodies, researchers have revealed.
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth say that heels change the
way the entire body moves, including the pelvis, hips, legs, knees, feet
and even the shoulders, to emphasise femininity, the Independent
reported.
The researchers suggest that evolution could partly explain the
continuing popularity of high heels as an article of the female
wardrobe.
The women who took part in the study had an average of around 10 pairs
of heels, and wore them at least once a week.
They were filmed walking for four minutes wearing identical flat
shoes and six cm heels. To avoid the rating of attractiveness being
influenced by anything other than high heels, the researchers used a
process known as point-light display, in which lit markers are placed on
key parts of the body and the raters or judges see only the patterns of
these lights as the woman walks.
Men and women watched 30-second video clips of the point-light
displays of the walkers in high heels and flat shoes moving towards
them. They then made judgements for femininity and attractiveness. All
the women were rated as more attractive when wearing heel s and women,
judges rated them as more attractive than did the men. The study has
been published in the scientific journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
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