Barbie shows women can be trusted to remove their high heels when needed, Aussie researchers claim
Barbie, rather than doom-and-gloom health warnings, could be the key to persuading patients to ditch high heels, Australian researchers say.
The suggestion comes from an analysis by podiatrists of the shoes worn by Barbie dolls over the past 65 years and whether they have left her foot posture in equinus (greater than 10 degrees ankle plantar flexion) or flat (less than 10 degrees).
One of the main findings of the Monash University–led study was that the proportion of Barbies in high heels had declined over time, from 100% in 1959 to 40% over the past four years.
This was correlated with an expansion in the roles where she was physically active, needed to work while standing or when she was dressed as a surgeon or astronaut and high heels may have been an impediment.
