I’d always wondered why Natalie Portman wore heels. It would seem like a person like Natalie Portman, who is empowered and seeks knowledge and … I don’t know what else, would be against something so opressing and … not exactly demeaning … as heels.

I’m not totally against heels. I’d wear 2-inch heels if I ever found shoes I liked that were comfortable, and wouldn’t cause me to hurt my back or tendons or anything (if worn for a long time). But I won’t go higher than that. It seems stupid to me. Ruin parts of my body, just to look “better” by other people’s standards?

Take Sarah Jessica Parker. She hurt her ankle somewhat recently because she wears heels all the time, causing her tendons to weaken, so when she was running (in heels) there was just no strength to keep the pace. Seriously? She’ll give up the ability to run just for a few inches? I like to think that I can run, if I ever need to. (Living in L.A. … maybe I’d need to run from a gang shooting. Or a crazed driver. You never know.)

But then I read this article, where she says she feels like starting a revolution against heels. Yay! I’m not totally wrong about her! (Then one wonders how much say certain celebrities have in presenting themselves to everyone.)

(I say heels are oppressive and somewhat demeaning, only because my Ethnic Studies professor likened Western style of beauty to the burqa worn in the Middle East. She meant how women feel they need to dress in specific ways. But I think American women have more of a choice in the matter. We don’t have a group of people with guns ordering us to dress a certain way. Although I kind of agree with what she said, mainly because whenever I look in shoe stores I can’t find many nice non-killer heeled or even unheeled shoes.)