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and the heel of the right shoe is too long. I take a few more steps. Maybe they aren't too bad. If I shorten my stride, shift my weight a bit, and give them time to break in, maybe they would be all right. Hmmm.... but they don't really match anything I own.

I ask a salesman if he can recommend a comfortable pair of high heels. I hear two women behind me snicker as if I had asked where I could buy a pet unicorn.

One hour and a dozen shoes later, I'm again holding three shoe boxes. I don't really like any of them and they probably won't match my clothes at home. I look around at the other shoppers and wonder if their feet are shaped differently than mine or if they are simply more willing to put up with the pain.

As I look at the aisles of shoes that are destined to be worn at most for one season, I begin to get angry. Why is femininity linked to shoes? Why do women need to have shoes to match each outfit? In the Silence of the Lambs, why does Hannibal Lecter judge Clarice for having a good bag and cheap shoes?

I put my shoeboxes back in a burst of outraged defiance. I will not let fashion magazines manipulate me into buying shoes that I do not need! I will not buy more shoes that hurt my feet! I will go on wearing my broken-in, out-dated shoes that, despite their scuffs and worn spots, at least have worn themselves into a comfortable mold around my feet. Wearing comfortable but out-of-style shoes will not make me less of a woman!

As I'm heading proudly out the door, a group of women come in. One of them is wearing the cutest strappy sandals with a wedge heel. I hesitate in the doorway. I think maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least ask her where she got them... and maybe go try them on. Because I really could use a new pair of shoes.

Learn more about this author, Susan Quilty.
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