More than 135,000 people have signed a petition to stop women being forced to wear high heels at work. It calls current formal work dress codes 'out-dated and sexist.' More than 100,000 signatures ensure the matter is discussed in the Parliament, before a new law comes to enforcement.
The petition comes after 27-year-old Nicola Thorp was allegedly sent home on her first day when she refused to wear high heels at an accountancy firm in London. It calls for dress code laws to be changed so women have the option to wear flat, formal shoes at work.
While it is no secret that women go to extraordinary lengths to appear comfortable in high heels, and the fashion industry often encourage this kind of personal statement in women, one wonders whether high heels are not another covert feminine acknowledgement of continuing patriarchy.
High heels emphasise legs and the female form, but they also come with physical risks. In October 2012, then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard tripped at Rajghat wearing high heels. Thousands of women sprain ankles while walking with heels on uneven surfaces and/or soft terrain. Many have sported broken shoe-heels and courted embarrassment in public places.
In fact as a way to protest against the unwritten dress code at Cannes, where many female actors were kept out last year for wearing flat shoes – ie, shoes without heels, actress Julia Roberts arrived barefoot for the screening of her film Money Monster.
Joining Julia is Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who has said women should not be forced to wear high heels to work, amid growing calls to ban companies from making it a condition of their dress codes.
On Sunday, Mr Javid took to Twitter to add his voice to the growing clamour.
Under British law, companies are able to demand that female members of staff wear heels and makeup as part of their dress code. Even in 2016.
A number of MPs have already offered their support to Ms Thorp's campaign.
She launched her effort when Portico, the agency which found her work, allegedly said she would need to wear heels to job interviews, because they were considered essential “female grooming policy”.
“I began my petition against high heels because it is blatant sexism that an employer has a right to impose a discriminatory dress code on women,” she said last week.
“But I also think that forcing women to paint their faces is wrong. At many of the sites I have worked at, I would have been sent home if I had turned up without makeup on.”
She has already scored one victory so far, as Simon Pratt, Portico's managing director, said: "All our female colleagues can wear plain flat shoes or plain court shoes as they prefer."
