There are plenty of reasons to dislike skinny jeans - the offensively-named skintight denim monsters are responsible for smushed bellies, sweaty legs and the horrific term "muffin-top". But now women of the world have a medical reason to eschew the pants, as well: they may cause nerve damage.
A paper published in Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry reports that a 35-year-old Australian woman ended up the in the hospital after wearing tight jeans while helping a relative move. The woman's feet became increasingly numb and eventually she couldn't walk - her legs were so swollen, in fact, that the jeans had to be cut from her body at the hospital. It seems that the pressure of the jeans combined with the squatting from picking items up had caused nerve damage.
The terrible details of this case are unlikely to sway many women to ditch their tight jeans. I'll admit, with some shame, that I'll be holding on to mine. After all, I wear high heels that are terrible for my feet and heavy purses that hurt my shoulders - a bit of jean-induced constriction hardly seems notable in comparison.
But why do women wear clothes that hurt us at all, let alone clothes that restrict our movements, make us slower or ensure we take up as little space as possible?
Female fashion has long been tied to women's discomfort: corsets (which have made a full comeback thanks to the Kardashian clan and are now called "waist-training") have been around for centuries, for example. The Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery recently reported that the number of high-heel related injuries in the US has doubled over the last decade. And Spanx - the lesser, hipper cousin of the corset - have had doctors troubled for several years as well.
Why aren't we listening? Do we really believe the old adage that "beauty is pain"?
The simple answer is that hurting our bodies in the name of being beautiful is sometimes easier than the alternative. Because our hurt means at least we're trying. Women who wear comfortable shoes or ignore fashion in favor of things that feel good on our bodies are women who have "let themselves go" or who don't "keep themselves up". For women, aesthetic apathy is a sin worse than ugliness.
When I dress my daughter, Layla, for school in the morning, I do so to make her as comfortable as possible - clothes that are breathable, weather-appropriate and cut to ensure she can run around having fun without thinking about what she's wearing. I wish I treated myself with the same care and consideration, but never quite find myself leaving my heels at home or trading in my purse for a more comfortable backpack.
And when Layla finds something uncomfortable, she wastes no time telling me: this sweater itches, those pants are too tight, the sandals hurt my toes. When I was a child, I was similarly so bothered by the seams of my socks rubbing up against my toes that I refused to wear them - even during the winter months. I want that back, that feeling we have as children that we are absolutely entitled to walk through the world comfortably. I'm jealous of the adults who have held onto it.
Until the social cost of being comfortable while female isn't quite so high, you'll probably continue to see me in my high heels, shoulder bags and skinny jeans. (Spanx, on the other hand, I'm done with.) Even feminists are vulnerable to beauty standards, and I'm no exception. I hope, though, that I can start to follow the wisdom of my daughter. Maybe I'll start with warm, itchy sweaters - next winter, of course.
Article Source: www.theguardian.com
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