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| ‘Lethal Weapons’ for Chinese Feet, but Without a Feminist Debate | ‘Lethal Weapons’ for Chinese Feet, but Without a Feminist Debate |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| BEIJING — Theresa May barely had her feet under the table as Britain’s new prime minister when Chinese fashionistas began discussing her shoes, her gender and her power, in that order. | BEIJING — Theresa May barely had her feet under the table as Britain’s new prime minister when Chinese fashionistas began discussing her shoes, her gender and her power, in that order. |
| “We are watching Madame Meiyi,” Hou Haiyan, 28, a fashion industry public relations executive, said in an interview shortly after Mrs. May’s appointment in mid-July, using the Chinese version of Mrs. May’s name. | “We are watching Madame Meiyi,” Hou Haiyan, 28, a fashion industry public relations executive, said in an interview shortly after Mrs. May’s appointment in mid-July, using the Chinese version of Mrs. May’s name. |
| “She likes kitten heels and is fashionable. And she has power. Maybe her style is part of her power,” Ms. Hou mused. | “She likes kitten heels and is fashionable. And she has power. Maybe her style is part of her power,” Ms. Hou mused. |
| Interest in Mrs. May and her footwear isn’t unique to China, but female political power is rare here: The Chinese Communist Party has never had a female leader, or a woman on its powerful Politburo Standing Committee. | Interest in Mrs. May and her footwear isn’t unique to China, but female political power is rare here: The Chinese Communist Party has never had a female leader, or a woman on its powerful Politburo Standing Committee. |
| A love of high heels isn’t unique either, though by Chinese standards Mrs. May’s low heels are modest. On city sidewalks and country roads across the nation this summer, women are walking on far higher spikes and platforms than Mrs. May’s. | A love of high heels isn’t unique either, though by Chinese standards Mrs. May’s low heels are modest. On city sidewalks and country roads across the nation this summer, women are walking on far higher spikes and platforms than Mrs. May’s. |
| But largely absent in China is a feminist debate about heels of the sort heard in Europe, the United States and Japan that recently roiled social media and spawned the Twitter hashtags #highheelsgate and #highheelgate after incidents in which women were publicly chastised as “unfeminine” for not wearing heels in London, Tokyo and Cannes, France. | |
| In interviews, a Chinese feminist and a top stylist each said that in terms of footwear anything goes. | In interviews, a Chinese feminist and a top stylist each said that in terms of footwear anything goes. |
| “I wear whatever I want,” said Xiong Jin, a women’s rights advocate. “I feel absolutely no pressure to wear heels.” | “I wear whatever I want,” said Xiong Jin, a women’s rights advocate. “I feel absolutely no pressure to wear heels.” |
| “We don’t really have that here,” said Fu Tianjiao, a stylist to the stars whose clients include Li Bingbing, Zhou Xun and Li Xiaolu, referring to the debate over what’s appropriate to wear. | “We don’t really have that here,” said Fu Tianjiao, a stylist to the stars whose clients include Li Bingbing, Zhou Xun and Li Xiaolu, referring to the debate over what’s appropriate to wear. |
| “Maybe it’s because high heels didn’t originate in China,” Ms. Fu said. | “Maybe it’s because high heels didn’t originate in China,” Ms. Fu said. |
| “Maybe in Britain there are traces of tradition like, ‘We have always done this, so you have to do this,’ ” she said. “But in China it’s impossible, because so many of our fashions come from the outside.” | “Maybe in Britain there are traces of tradition like, ‘We have always done this, so you have to do this,’ ” she said. “But in China it’s impossible, because so many of our fashions come from the outside.” |
| And yet, historically, China saw the world’s greatest crimp on a woman’s feet: foot-binding. | And yet, historically, China saw the world’s greatest crimp on a woman’s feet: foot-binding. |
| For hundreds of years into the 20th century, families crushed a girl’s feet to achieve a “golden lotus” (about four inches long), a “silver lotus” (just over five inches) or the comparatively big “iron lotus” (more than six). | For hundreds of years into the 20th century, families crushed a girl’s feet to achieve a “golden lotus” (about four inches long), a “silver lotus” (just over five inches) or the comparatively big “iron lotus” (more than six). |
| Today, Chinese names for heels are still colorful. | Today, Chinese names for heels are still colorful. |
| Extreme heels — about eight inches high and often with a platform at the front — are known as “heaven-hating heels,” or hentian gaogenxie (恨天高跟鞋). | Extreme heels — about eight inches high and often with a platform at the front — are known as “heaven-hating heels,” or hentian gaogenxie (恨天高跟鞋). |
| Stilettos, the heels named for an assassin’s knife, are “lethal weapons,” or xiongqi (凶器). As in the West, they are sometimes associated with sexual fetishism. | |
| Platform shoes are called “water-prevention platforms,” or fangshuitai (防水台), a practical description — if a wearer can avoid falling over entirely. | Platform shoes are called “water-prevention platforms,” or fangshuitai (防水台), a practical description — if a wearer can avoid falling over entirely. |
| “They make me look taller,” said Wang Lu, a waitress in training in the Sanlitun district of Beijing who was wearing white, five-inch, zip-up platforms. | “They make me look taller,” said Wang Lu, a waitress in training in the Sanlitun district of Beijing who was wearing white, five-inch, zip-up platforms. |
| Ms. Wang, 16, stands at 5-foot-1 in her bare feet, making the extra height welcome, she said. | Ms. Wang, 16, stands at 5-foot-1 in her bare feet, making the extra height welcome, she said. |
| “I only bought them a few months ago, and in the beginning I fell over quite a lot, but I’ve got used to them now,” she said. | “I only bought them a few months ago, and in the beginning I fell over quite a lot, but I’ve got used to them now,” she said. |
| Ms. Fu is a fan of heels, but she agrees they’re uncomfortable. “I think a lot of women are quite conflicted,” she said. “They want to be both comfortable and beautiful.” | Ms. Fu is a fan of heels, but she agrees they’re uncomfortable. “I think a lot of women are quite conflicted,” she said. “They want to be both comfortable and beautiful.” |
| Nanci Zhang, an H.I.V. researcher, said that heels were aesthetically pleasing but that she had to come up with a compromise on one pair of extreme heels that a friend gave her to wear when she sings jazz, a hobby of hers. | Nanci Zhang, an H.I.V. researcher, said that heels were aesthetically pleasing but that she had to come up with a compromise on one pair of extreme heels that a friend gave her to wear when she sings jazz, a hobby of hers. |
| “I tend to use them only on gigs where I have the option to sit!” she said. | “I tend to use them only on gigs where I have the option to sit!” she said. |