Tag Archives: debate

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The History of High Heeled shoes and Why men stopped wearing them (link to article here)

For a lover of history and a fan of fashion, this article was fascinating. It touches on a lot of different subjects, explaining how high heels were originally designed as horse riding aids, then became a trend when Europe was infatuated with everything Persian.

There was a quote I liked that claims “One of the best ways that status can be conveyed is through impracticality.” This is apparently how high heels became so wide spread and desirable. The more impractical something is, the posher you look. If you wear something outrageous it just shows that you never have to work in it… or in this case, walk much. I think this statement is true even today. Take a look at our “status” shoes and clothes.

The article continues to explain how heels were the ultimate sign of MANLINESS, and how they only became popular with women during a sort of counter culture fashion trend of women wanting to emulate men.

This whole topic of gender and shoes absolutely fascinated me.

A true MUST read article

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Continuation of the book debate

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Continuing on the line of the Documentary of the 14th century codex.

I would like to possibly launch the topic here and possibly engage in some conversation over these matters.

Do e-books warrant the extinction of physical books? Does only content matter, regardless of a digital or printed form? Are e-books a step forward in the free exchange of ideas? a new convenience for the spread of knowledge? or do we beginning to loose meaning once the physical form disappears?

I’m a bit torn on this issue personally. I think the e-book is symptomatic of a much bigger problem. We are part of the “now” generation. We are used to being catered to instantly, we get information instantly, things have become easy and convenient. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, quite the opposite actually. The problem resides in how we use this instant access. We (me being first in line) fall prey to so many distractions. I can’t tell you the last book I’ve read from beginning to end. Why? Because there’s always a new video to watch, a new link to jump to, someone to email or text, games, apps, amazon and this and the other thing.

For me personally I love the convenience of have a reading app on my tablet and access to millions of books easily, but the digital format is not conducive to concentrated and focused reading. There are too many other options on those devices and my reading is always interrupted. I wish to return to a world of paper and ink, where the only thing you can do with a book is dwell in the pages, travel through the ink and truly read. I feel like my attention is always drifting and I miss out on the true meaning of what I’m reading and especially the meaning behind what the author is trying to say.

Which launches a whole new debate about contemporary authors, but that is a debate for another time.

Please leave me a comment and tell me where you stand on this issue.

^^