Sep 22nd 2010 By Jeremy Taylor

Men Don't Notice When Women Wear High Heels

Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

Wearing high heels doesn't make women more attractive to men.

Researchers at Northumbria University in England conducted a study using 3-D motion-capture technology. During the experiment, males observed the figures of females between the ages of 18 and 35 walking with or without high heels on.

Despite the fact that wearing heels changes a woman's posture and height in a way that presumably amps up their attractiveness, the men in the experiment couldn't tell the difference between a woman who was wearing heels and one who was not (unless the heels themselves were visible).

On a similar note, men are also pretty oblivious to a woman's choice in handbags. (And we didn't even need a study to pass along that tidbit of information.)

Tags: attraction - Attractiveness - awareness - High Heels - HighHeels - men - Northumbria University - NorthumbriaUniversity - Posture - women

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Wednesday 22 September

By Gyp_C

Highest Rank

The study must have been using the wrong group of fellas. High heels make a big diference in the legs & hips department. Ladies have a diferent swagger with a pair of heels on. I can tell immediately, even before I look down at their feet.. (if I make it that far :)

Thursday 23 September

By Beyond The Sun

Highest Rank

Talk about a flawed study! I'm not sure what is wrong with the Brits - but American women have known for many decade that a red-blooded American male will perk up when she eners a room wearing a killer pair of heels. Ladies - you know what makes you look good.... and it isn't some lame pair of flip flops or cheesy flats.

Monday 20 December

By Ron Shipp

Neutral

In the book the naked ape Morris says it makes women more attractive by making the bottom more erect a sign in apes of being on heat and it tightens leg muscles which also happens when aroused. so it is something we are born with.

Wednesday 22 September

By Ben

Neutral

I'm going to go with one or more of the following:

a) Study conducted incorrectly
b) Heels not high enough
c) Test subjects afflicted w/hip displasia
d) Pantyhose and/or bare legs errors (see (e))
e) Failure to wear stockings
f) Bitches too ugly
g) "Scientists" actually NOW plants
h) Failure to check Heels Behind Ears position
i) If the hips don't sway, the eyes don't stray
j) Improper hip-to-waist ratio (see (f))
k) Pants and/or shorts error (see (e),(l))
l) Failure to wear dress and/or skirt
m) Heels not high enough
n) Makeup missing or "girl-next-door"
o) Pink lipstick or no lipstick (see (n))
p) Fake breasts (laughing stock fixation)
q) Tattoos causing "oh no" reaction
r) Smoking or other disgusting habit
s) Klunk: Grandma's over-sized jewelry
t) Baby on board
u) "Cellphone ear" (see (y))
v) "Running in packs" (see (y))
w) "cock-blocker", aka "remora" (see (y))
x) Nose in air / snobby (see (y))
y) Visibly and obviously unavailable
z) "comfortable" clothing

Geez, am I outta letters already?

Wednesday 29 September

By Tom

Lowest Rank

Great list, with more letters these come to mind...

Large Adams Apple suggests a sexual switcheroo

Wearer wore wrong contact lenses today

Exudes unusual scent (cheap perfume, stale booze, menses)

Bald or butch

Accompanied by glowering Wrestlemania star

Thursday 23 September

By nodevout

Lowest Rank

You bet men notice cuz it's a mark of a slut and all men love sluts!

Wednesday 29 September

By Laura

Highest Rank

I'm sorry, but did you really just say that wearing heels makes you a slut? Most of the dressy shoes sold for women have heels, and the remainder look like something my grandmother would wear. Most businesswomen are sluts, then, because those are the only shoes that match dress suits well.

Thursday 23 September

By Chas

Neutral

All guys notice high heels or their dead. Guy that wrote the article must be gay.

Saturday 25 September

By slickjesus

Neutral

Guy who wrote article has been deceived or is dead. A gay man would probably notice and...jeepers heels always make women look hot.

Thursday 23 September

By Matt

Highest Rank

I must say I think the sexiest thing a woman could wear are heels. This study has to have been misconducted somewhere along the line.

WOMEN STAY STRONG AND KEEP WEARING HEELS!

Thursday 23 September

By CallingYouOut

Highest Rank

This is absolutely not true. A woman looks completely different with heels on. I and all my woman-hunting compadres feel the same way... it affects her stance, her walk, and her attitude...

For better or worse is a whole other debate, altogether...

Thursday 23 September

By The Independent

Neutral

Do not notice. No way.

Subjects, blind, doped, standing next to girlfriends, trying too hard to be "Politically correct"

I will argue the sluts, to be sexy only issue. The women who really know how to walk on heels, just express a level of confidence that is a greater than those who cannot. That is more important and once I realized it has brought me to know women that I have a multifaceted respect for.

Thursday 23 September

By Justin

Highest Rank

I'm glad I'm not the only one who raised an eyebrow when I saw this. I notice and love a women in heels.

Friday 24 September

By Glennthoughtfromwithin

Lowest Ranked

@ justin i did as well made me raise an eyebrow i as well notice and love women in heels, nothing is more satisfying then her letting me know she's got it and isnt afraid to flaunt it ohhh how im addicted to women.

Saturday 25 September

By tom swift

Lowest Ranked

There's another factor which may not have been adequately covered in the cited study. Walking in heels is a skill which takes time to develop. Just putting on heels a couple of times a year isn't going to do it. I don't often see a woman nowadays with the necessary skill to pull it off. It's almost a lost art. Without that requisite skill, a woman tottering along in heels is a clumsy oaf at constant risk of falling down - and it shows.

What am I talking about? For a lesson in how a practiced expert did it in the heyday of heels, see Jayne Mansfield in "The Girl Can't Help It" [1956]. After that, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Saturday 25 September

By Bob

Lowest Ranked

Palin!

Saturday 25 September

By Ben

Lowest Ranked

These guys should return their grant money, this study is a joke! Heels are hot, and sometimes even a handbag can add a little something to the picture, though the heels are more important.

Saturday 25 September

By J

Neutral

The title of the article draws an incorrect inference from the study. There's no question men find the posture heels force women into more attactive, but some women stand that way naturally. That a man cannot determine why the woman assumes that posture is irrelevant to whether they find it attractive.

Saturday 25 September

By sinanju

Highest Rank

I'm a man who notices a woman's shoes and no, I don't think I'm a fetishist.

I personally hate high heels, they're unnatural and I think they make the leg muscles stand out in unattractive ways. I prefer women in flats myself, without unnaturally pointed toes. I find them to be just as sexy.

I think one possible explanation for the attraction with some men may be the infantilization factor. Women tottering about in high heels or platforms are helpless to fight or run away. Their feet are unnaturally squeezed into tiny packages. Just like foot-binding, only they can take them off.

Saturday 25 September

By comatus

Highest Rank

Absolutely. I notice whether the woman has chosen quality shoes, appropriate for action. And if she has an old Coach or a military messenger bag, re-oiled with the stitching waxed, I can tell she's investing for the long haul, not just flashing glitz.

I'm attracted to that. The glamour-pusses are unstable money sinks, with no ideas of their own.