I get a lot of questions from women on what they should wear to shul.
Well, my favorite outfits on women are the high-powered professional stuff that Aly McBeal might wear. Feminine stuff. Not manly suits. High heels and lacy filmy stuff. Like she was about to argue her case before the Supreme Court.
Call it heel appeal. Women who wear high heels may give their sex life a boost, and it has nothing to do with the effect these sexy shoes have on men and their libido.
Italian urologist Dr. Maria Cerruto of the University of Verona has concluded that walking in higher heels–and they don’t have to be stilettos–gives a workout to the pelvic floor muscles, the pleasure muscles that are linked to orgasm.
This may be the first scientific study to show high heels are good for a woman’s health. Previous research has shown such shoes can give women everything from stress fractures to schizophrenia, not to mention corns and sore feet.
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The BBC News and London’s Daily Mail report that Cerruto’s study of 66 women under age 50 found that those who held their foot at a 15-degree angle to the ground, which is the same effect as a two-inch heel, had posture that was just as good as those who wore flat shoes. But these women also showed less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles, which indicates those muscles were at an optimum position. Cerruto maintains this could improve the strength and ability of the pelvic muscles to contract. These muscles assist sexual performance and satisfaction, as well as provide vital support to the pelvic organs, which include the bladder, bowels and uterus.
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Pregnancy and childbirth, as well as aging, can weaken the pelvic muscles. Exercises help, but Cerruto theorizes that wearing two-inch high heels may be enough to eliminate the need for those exercises. "Women often have difficulty in carrying out the right exercises for the pelvic zone and wearing heels could be the solution," she told the BBC. "Like many women, I like high-heeled shoes. It’s good to know they have potential health benefits."
But moderation counts! Shoe designer Manolo Blahnik told The Daily Mail, "I think there’s a limit, though. Anything over four-and-a-half inches is just too much. You can’t walk properly; it’s no longer elegant."
The study was published as a letter in the journal European Urology.
