If The Shoe Fits

One small step for plastic surgeons, one giant leap for the fashion industry… and one wincing gait for women everywhere.

Introducing the “Cinderella Procedure,” a foot operation designed to make wearing high heels less agonizing.

Now, not only is it unacceptable to have wrinkles, cellulite, body hair, glasses, B cups, crooked teeth or large labia, it is also frowned upon to walk on the feet God gave you.

The procedures make the foot narrower, remove bunions, shorten the toes, inject fat from your abdomen (to create a cushioning effect), and clip some of those nasty tendons that make your feet so frustratingly flat.

“It’s unrealistic to tell women not to wear high heels,” says Beverley Hills Aesthetic Foot Surgery podiatrist, Ali Sadrieh. “I came up with procedures that allow women to function pain-free, in the real world.”

However not all podiatrists are on board with the practice.

“Shortening a toe to get into a tight-fitting shoe should not be a standard of care in any physician’s office,” says Donald R. Bohay, of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society.

The procedures are painful, expensive and sometimes go achingly wrong.

While vanity and a desire to meet social norms may be motivating factors for some women to undergo this horrific surgery, for others it may be a necessity to relieve constant, enforced pain.

In some workplaces, such as airlines and retail stores, women must sign a contract agreeing to adhere to a specific dress code, which includes heels. Coincidentally this doesn’t apply to male employees.

So before we blame women for their “choices,” let’s take a look at the industries that have allowed and encouraged such developments.

For years we have cast a superior eye over cultures that follow foot-binding traditions. But if the Cinderella Procedure is what modern women require to “function in the real world,” how far have we really come?

Contact the author here: brianna@morningquickie.com