Power of high heels alive and kicking

The allure of high-heeled shoes is no secret among women, who have used them to entice men from the streets of ancient Rome to the New York City sidewalks of Carrie Bradshaw. 

Heels have also been a controversial symbol in the battleground of sexual politics.

Now a scientific study in France has measured their power.

Scientists from the Université de Bretagne-Sud conducted experiments that showed that men behave very differently toward high-heeled women. The results, published online in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, may please the purveyors of Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo shoes.

The study found if a woman drops a glove on the street while wearing heels, she’s almost 50% more likely to have a man fetch it for her than if she’s wearing flats.

Another finding: A woman wearing heels is twice as likely to persuade men to stop and answer survey questions on the street. And a high-heeled woman in a bar waits half the time to get picked up by a man, compared to when her heel is nearer to the ground.

“Women’s shoe heel size exerts a powerful effect on men’s behaviour,” says the study’s author, Nicolas Gueguen, a behavioral science researcher.

“Simply put, they make women more beautiful.”

The study shows that the allure of high heels is very much alive.

“Though it’s a relatively small cross-section, this study is very significant since the results are clear and consistent,” said Paris-based sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann.

“In a relation of seduction, men are very attracted by a woman in heels as she looks taller, more sexually confident, sure of herself, with a lengthened silhouette and sensual jutting buttocks.”

Gueguen’s study had 19-year-old female volunteers wearing black shoes with heels that were 0.5cm (0.2in) or 5cm (2in) or 9cm (3.5in) high. Then they asked men between the ages of 25-50 for help in various circumstances.

One situation involved a woman asking passers-by: “Excuse me, sir. We are currently conducting a survey on gender equality. Would you agree to answer our questionnaire?” Flat heels got a 46.7% answer rate, medium heels a 63% rate and the highest heels a whopping 83% success rate from the men.