High heels are a symbol of women’s oppression, says Mary Beard

The respected classicist goes head-to-head with renowned foot designer and unlikely friend Manolo Blahnik

Professor Mary Beard has described high heels as “a symbol of women’s oppression” in conversation with renowned shoe designer Manolo Blahnik.

On Monday, the pair – who became friends at a Royal Academy party in 2012 – spoke about their relationship and women’s shoes on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

On the subject of footwear, Blahnik said: “In high heels, you just feel powerful.” Beard firmly disagreed.

Despite saying she had been told by numerous individuals that Blahnik’s shoes are comfortable, the classicist and author said: “By and large, [high heels] are a symbol of women’s oppression.”

While Blahnik could be heard exclaiming in the background in disagreement with Beard’s view, the author continued, stating: “We deplore things like Chinese foot-binding; we think how terrible – and then we push women with the specious idea that it’s giving them power into shoes they can hardly balance in.”

But she also said: “[Blahnik] taught me not to be afraid to think that shoes are intellectual interesting. I’ve always had this kind of curiosity about shoes.”

She explained that shoes “get into parts that other bits of fashion don’t reach, because they are both items of high art – and you only have to come and look at the Blahnik shoes on display here to see it”, referring to the Wallace Collection’s decision to showcase Blahnik’s shoes.

“But they are also entirely practical,” she noted, before admitting she prefers flat shoes.

Of Professor Beard, Mr Blahnik said that the “respect on my part is there forever” (Xavi Torrent/Getty) (Photo by Xavi Torrent/Getty Images)

Despite their differences of opinion on the matter, the pair confessed to sharing an “an intellectual interest in how people decide to decorate their feet”.

Blahnik said: “We have a little lunch and we talk hours and hours and hours. I adore her, yes.”

The Cambridge academic admitted: “We’re an unlikely couple, I agree. Mary Beard is not a well-known fashionista.” Blahnik interrupted to insist, “But you are fashion.”

Blahnik described Professor Beard as “the only woman who knows exactly what I want to know – knowledge about everything, especially the classical world”.

When asked whether he needed such knowledge to design shoes, he replied, “Yes, I do, I do, I do, I do.”

Manolo Blahnik shoes became a household name following their prominence in the hit 1990s show Sex and the City.

The show’s Carrie Bradshaw became as infamous for her romantic relationships and friendships as she was for her devotion to the Blahnik brand.

In one episode, she says: “I’m getting married. To myself. And I’m registered at Manolo Blahnik.”