The Stepsister to Cinderella Syndrome...We're Cursed.
The pic above is the afflictive reality for women with extended-size feet.
Ooohh ok, so it's not that shoe designers or retailers are against women with larger feet, they were swayed. The rations of extended-size shoe availability could be because designers and retailers have been subliminally influenced.
What am I referring to exactly? Cinderella, of course (hence, the pictures). However, by no means am I pinning this down on Disney, which debut its Cinderella animation in 1950. Disney actually based their animation on Italian poet Giambattista Basile's Pentamerone (1634). Pentamerone is a seventeenth-century fairytale compilation that included classics like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Puss in Boots.
Furthermore, the idea of petite and dainty feet stem from the roots of beauty in China from the early 10th and 11th century. The tradition of foot binding (also known as lotus feet) gained popularity amongst upper-class Chinese women as a sign of wealth if they came from prominent families. Since their families were affluent, they did not need to work and could afford to bind their feet. As a result, said practice eventually trickled down from upper-class to the lower class as a status symbol of wealth and perceived beauty.
This is similar to Christian Louboutins today---the modern glass slipper. There are plenty of envious women with larger feet that dream of wearing red-bottom shoes. But due to limited size availability, and an insufficient supply of 42s and 43s, we must watch the 'Cinderellas' of our lives win by a small foot.
We were doomed from birth. In Cinderella, stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine have big feet. And how these little darlings portrayed?
- Unsightly
- Boisterous and deafening
- Overpowering and tyrannical
- Envious
I don't know about you, but after watching Cinderella as a little one I never wanted large feet. This would mean that I would be just like the evil stepsisters. Most importantly, If I had large feet, then I wouldn't get my Prince Charming. The theory can seriously screw up a young girl enrolling her into a life of shame and insecurity. But, I digress.
They look hideous. Just awful. Anastasia Tremaine (left) & Drizella Tremaine (right)
Our perception is our reality.
"Big feet on a woman equals ugly, clumsy, unattractive," writer Ofelia Faz-Garza said. "I’m perpetually one of Cinderella’s evil stepsisters, squeezing my toes into shoes not meant for me. My feet feel like a defect, something to joke about. "
To make this long awaited Cinderella premiere even more excitable shoe designers Charlotte Olympia, Jimmy Choo and Salvatore Ferragamo have made their own renditions of the coveted glass slipper. Check out my article here.
Now, isn't she radiant with her dainty shoe and all.
As much as I dislike the idea of extended-size shoe discrimination, I will certainly be in attendance for Cinderella. Well, someone has to tune in for such shenanigans. The Cinderella Movie is to premiere March 13, 2015.
None of the images displayed belong to Shonchelle Shereé.