Monday afternoon found me at the Drill Field at the heart of the Mississippi State campus where I joined almost 300 fellow students to take part in an event called “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes,’’ otherwise known as the slowest mile in recorded history.
The event, sponsored by Outreach & Sexual Assault Services, the MSU National Pan-Hellenic Council and the MSU Interfraternity Council, is held each year to call attention to the serious issue of sexual and physical abuse toward women.
Each year, men trade in their tennis shoes for women’s pump, stilettos, flats, wedges and sandals and walk four times around the quarter-mile periphery of the Drill Field.
You know, I never did make the connection between staggering/limping/stumbling a mile in painful shoes and sexual and physical abuse. I don’t know. Maybe the message is: Don’t mistreat women; they abuse themselves enough as it is.
When I signed up last week, I was told to be at the Drill Field at 3:30 to pick up my shoes for the 4 p.m. event. But 4 p.m. came and went as about 300 men in uncomfortable footwear listened to various local dignitaries talk about what is a very serious issue.
That means I was in my women’s Size 12s for 50 minutes before the walk even began.
Nobody seemed to mind the delay, though; we were too busy gasping in horror at the footwear of our fellow men.
I took some photos of some of the guys. There were four sheriff’s deputies who were also participating. I took photos of each of them in their women’s shoes on the theory that, hey, I might get pulled over sometime. This is what is called “leverage,’’ I believe.
As I sat on a low wall waiting for the pain to commence, I struck up a conversation with a guy named Ryan, who was there with four of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers. I noticed that Ryan was wearing a pair of white pumps, but I spared him the embarrassment of noting that it was always in poor taste to wear white shoes before Easter. I mean, there is no reason to be cruel, right.
Besides, Ryan seemed to be getting a huge kick out of the spectacle.
“Can you believe we are doing this?’’ he said, laughing. “Dudes wearing women’s shoes?’’
I noted the excitement in his voice and tried to match it.
“I know!’ I said, enthusiastically. “And I’m wearing women’s underwear, too! Isn’t this fun!’’
I didn’t see Ryan again after that, oddly enough.
One of the co-eds at the registration table helped me with my choice of footwear. I confess that I had my eye on some hunter green heels with a pointy-toe. She soon talked me out of it, though, wrinkling her cute little nose and shaking her head vigorously.
“You want to stay away from heels,’’ she advised. “And pointy-toes, too. They hurt.’’
Armed with such useful information, I chose a pair of brown wedges with clothes straps that tied just about the ankles (at least that’s where I tied them, anyhow). It was not the most stunning look, I thought, but I was pleased with the choice, overall. They were sensible shoes.
No some guys totally wimped out, choosing flats or even sandals, which would even be permitted if I were running the event.
But there were some brave souls who defied logic and good sense and choose stilettos. They would pay for such boldness, of course. By the time we had made our first lap around the drill field, most of the stilettos wearers, where either wincing in pain or had given up and were walking barefoot, heels in hand.
When the walk finally began, all of us passed by a table where four members of the MSU fashion board sat at a make-shift review stand.
“Tell my children I love them,’’ I said bravely, as I began the walk.
I am happy to report that I didn’t break an ankle, didn’t fall and didn’t give up. I made it the full mile. The wedges turned out to be a wise selection.
I think we finished the walk in about 30 minutes, which translates into a "blistering'' 2 mph pace.
At the end of the event, they gave out various plagues. Sigma Chi won an award for having the most members from a group. Some other fraternity won for something else. A black guy in pink stilettos was declared the most stylish walker by the Fashion Board committee.
I didn’t win any prize, though, mainly because they didn’t have a category for “Most Dignified.’’
No comments:
Post a Comment