Why Don't Men Wear High Heels?

Why Do Women Wear High Heels?

One of the many reasons why I am glad that I am man- I don't have to wear high heels. Everyday, millions of women wear shoes that significantly raise their heels above their toes, despite the fact that the shoes are very uncomfortable and can cause chronic foot damage.

High heels can put a women's pelvis out of alignment. They can cause ingrown toe nails, compression of the spine, stress fractures, athlete's foot, and calluses. They can increase wear and tear in the joints and soft tissue, eventually causing arthritis. Wearing high heels actually shrinks the Achilles tendon, which causes great pain when you switch to flats. High heels are not practical- they get stuck in things. Have you ever tried hiking or driving in high heels? I know I haven't.

Women hate wearing high heels. A survey by the College of Podiatry found that 1 in 4 women found the pain of wearing high heels so great that they danced barefoot at a bar or club. In case you have never been to a bar or club, know that the average floor of a bar or club is cleaned about once a year and often caked with sticky remnants of adult beverages, spit, urine, vomit, and who knows what else.

Yet, women can't help but wear high heels, especially young women. In fact, the younger the woman, the higher their heels tend to be.

But why? Why on earth do women put themselves through such agony? And how long has this been going on? Perhaps a more important question is: Why did men stop wearing high heels?

That's right. The first high heels were worn by men, in the 9th century. Persian horse riders wore high heels to help hold their feet in stirrups.

At the end of the 16th century, the Persian king, Abbas I, sent diplomats to Russia, Germany, and Spain in order to see if they could help him defeat the Ottoman Empire. Europeans who saw these Persian men arriving in high heeled shoes were impressed. In fact, aristocrats were big fans- they believed that wearing such shoes gave men a masculine edge. The Persian high-heeled shoes began to become popular in Europe, so popular that even people of lower rank in society began to make and buy them. In response to this, aristocrats kept increasing the height of their high heels. Thus, the modern high heeled shoe was born.

Aristocrats believed that walking around in high heels was another way to announce their privileged status, as the shoes would be impractical for the working class. High heels were also a great way for them to not step in the poop on the streets! In addition, high heels allowed aristocrats to look down on people of lower rank (pun definitely intended.) Famous king dude Louis XIV of France had a hard time looking down on people, for he only stood 5 feet 4 inches. To help with this issue, he wore 4 inch high heels, which usually were elaborately decorated with battle scenes. The heels and soles were always red. In the 1670s, Louis XIV ordered that only members of his court were allowed to wear red heels. His influence was widespread. Soon kings everywhere were wearing high heels.

Around the same time, many European women were trying to look like men. I'm not kidding. There were women smoking pipes, wearing hats traditionally worn by men, cutting their hair, and...oh yeah...wearing high heels, in order to appear more masculine. Let me repeat that again- women began to wear high heels to look more like men.

By the end of the 1600s, both men and women in Europe's upper classes were wearing high heels. However, as the 1700s began, Europe was now in what became known as the Age of Enlightenment,. During this time, men began to abandon the wearing of jewelry, bright colors, and fancy clothes in favor of a darker, more plain and modest look. Men's clothing no longer signified social class, and thus the popularity of the male high heel declined. By 1740 men had stopped wearing high heels altogether. Women continued to wear them for awhile, but around the time of the French Revolution high heels fell out of style for just about everyone.

However, in the mid-1800s high heels slowly came back into style, but mostly with women. As women usually walk differently from men, high heels were found to help exaggerate the feminine aspect of the movement of their limbs as they walk, making them more attractive to men.

World War II seems to be an important event in high heel history. It was during the war that the ideal of a woman in very high heels became embedded in images of female desirability. After the war, the creation of a delicate, very thin heel that could rise in height but also not break easily helped increase the popularity of the shoe. These shoes, called stilettos, were invented by a man, of course, whose name was Roger Vivier.

Since then, they have fallen in and out of fashion many times, but nearly all high heels have been worn by women, not men.

Heels continue to be worn for one apparent reason- to attract males. They're definitely not worn for their comfort or practicality, that's for sure.

According to one study, the average woman owns about 20 pairs of shoes. Of those, they only put five into regular rotation. The biggest reason why? Most of their shoes are uncomfortable. So will this trend continue? Is it really worth it, ladies, to damage your feet in the name of fashion? Will men ever wear high heels again? I think I'll just stick to my sneakers.

Story Time with Mr. Beat - Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

He is a man who is consistently ranked as one of the worst Presidents in American history. After he left office, the country was more divided than it had ever been up to that point. However, today he still has fans. In fact, one of my viewers requested that I make a video about him. So, here is the story of Franklin Pierce.

Once upon a time, November 23rd, 1804, to be exact, Franklin Pierce was born in a log cabin in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. During Franklin's childhood, his Dad, Benjamin, was heavily involved in politics, eventually becoming governor of New Hampshire in 1827. Benjamin made sure Franklin had a strong education growing up. However, school did not naturally come easy to Franklin, and he consistently struggled.

When he turned 15, he went to Bowdoin College in Maine. There he made many friends, including a young writer who would eventually become of the most famous in American history- Nathaniel Hawthorne. At Bowdoin, Franklin was a party animal of sorts, and his grades suffered because of it. However, by the time he graduated he had applied himself enough to rank fifth in his class.

After graduation, Pierce studied law and entered politics. When he was 24 years old, he was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature. Two years later, with the help of his dad, who by this time was the governor, he was selected as its Speaker of the House. In March 1833, Pierce was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with hardly any competition in his way. While living in Washington, Pierce had become addicted to alcohol.

Meanwhile, he had become engaged to a woman named Jane Means Appleton. Jane was Pierce's opposite in almost every way. Franklin was a Democrat, Jane was a Whig. Franklin was outgoing, Jane was shy. Franklin frequented saloons, and Jane was big fan of the temperance movement, wishing that saloons were shut down. Even more so than her husband, Jane hated Washington politics, and was definitely not happy when Franklin later ran for President. The couple had a son, Franklin Pierce, Jr., on February 2nd, 1836. Tragically, Franklin Jr. died just three days later.

In March 1837, Pierce became the youngest member of the U.S. Senate at the time. While serving in the Senate, he usually voted with his political party, the Democrats. He wrote no significant bills, and he only seemed to be passionate about one thing- not liking the abolitionist movement. A friend of future Confederate president Jefferson Davis, Pierce became one of the few northerners who sided with southerners on the issue of slavery, which later caused some to call him a "doughface."

On August 27th, 1839, Franklin and Jane welcomed their second son, Frank Robert Pierce. Two years later, the two were sick of Washington politics, and Franklin decided to resign from the Senate. The family moved back to New Hampshire, where Franklin opened a law practice.  It was also around this time that he gave up drinking, and actually attempted to outlaw alcohol from Concord, where his family now lived. On April 13th, 1841, Franklin and Jane had a third son- Benjamin Pierce. This good news was overshadowed by the death of their second son, Frank Robert, who died of epidemic typhus when Benjamin was two. Keep in mind now they had lost two children. This is getting depressing.

As a lawyer, Pierce was a star. He took high-profile cases, and his strong public speaking skills in the court room made him famous throughout New Hampshire.

When the Mexican-American War broke out, Pierce enlisted. Despite having no military experience, he commanded over 2,000 men in 1847 as they led an attack on Mexico City. However, his ability to fight did not last long. In the Battle of Contreras, he fell off his horse, crushing his leg and causing him to pass out.

Soon after the Americans won the war, and Franklin returned home to Concord, now more popular than he had ever been. By 1852, the country was more divided than it had ever been up to that point due to the issue of the expansion of slavery out west. The Democratic Party that year had a difficult time at their convention choosing a candidate, but in the end, they decided Franklin Pierce was their man, mostly because they believed he could appeal to both Northerners and Southerners due to being a "doughface." Remember, a doughface was a Northerner who sympathized with Southerners when it came to slavery.

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Pierce was a "dark horse" candidate that few outside of New Hampshire had known up to that point. He ran against the Whig Party candidate, Mexican American War hero Winfield Scott, and easily won the election. What helped Franklin win the election was probably the advantages of a lot of people not knowing who he was and the fact that he got along with just about everybody.

Winning election was probably the high point of Franklin Pierce's life. After that, things went horribly wrong. Two months before he took office, Franklin, Jane, and their youngest son Benjamin were in a terrible train accident. Franklin and Jane survived, but their son died right in front of them. In fact, Benjamin was nearly lost his entire head. Their last surviving child, he was only eleven years old. It was a traumatic event that Jane would never recover from. None of their sons survived to see their father become President.

Jane would not attend Franklin's inauguration, where he gave a 3,319-word address from memory, without the aid of notes. Shortly after Pierce became President, two of his closest political allies died. Needless to say, Pierce was distracted during the first part of his Presidency. Social functions rarely took place during the first half of the Pierce administration. Jane lived in the White House as a recluse, likely the most unhappy First Lady in American history.

As President, Pierce felt pressure from both Southerners and Northerners, and was often put in a bad position trying to please both. One example of this was his reluctant support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise, established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and said that anyone who lived in the two territories could vote on whether or not they would become slave or free states. After he signed the law in 1854, the territory of Kansas became a battleground where proslavery and antislavery forces murdered each other.

Pierce also upset northerners when members of his administration came up with the Ostend Manifesto, a document arguing for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain and possibly declaring war with Spain if they refused to sell it.

One notable thing that Pierce doesn't get recognized for much is the fact that he named the first Roman Catholic cabinet officer in American history- James Campbell of Pennsylvania- during a time when many Americans persecuted Catholics.
Perhaps the biggest success of the Pierce's Presidency was when he sent James Gadsden to Mexico to buy land for a southern railroad in present-day southern New Mexico and Arizona. Known as the Gadsden Purchase, the United States acquired the land for $10 million.

However, by the end of his term, even his own party doubted his abilities. Franklin was not renominated by the Democrats to run again in 1856. Instead, they went with the less controversial James Buchanan. Pierce returned to his home in New Hampshire after his presidency, with the country now even more divided than it was when he first took office.

When the American Civil War erupted in 1861, Pierce was loyal to the North, but he blamed Abraham Lincoln for starting the war and taking away habeas corpus later in the war. Meanwhile, Jane's health declined due to tuberculosis. Hoping the warmer climate would help her recover, Franklin took her to the West Indies. It did not, and she died in late 1863.

After the death of his wife, Franklin sort of faded into obscurity. Sadly, he took up drinking again, and spent much of his remaining days as a recluse, much as Jane had when he was President. However, he was baptized into Jane's church on the second anniversary of her death. He also spent many happy days pursuing his favorite hobby- fishing.

On October 8, 1869, Franklin died from cirrhosis of the liver as a result of years of heavy drinking. He was buried in the Old North Cemetery in Concord.

So what about his legacy? For most historians, Franklin Pierce is seen as a weak leader at a time when the country desperately needed a strong one. However, I would argue that the issues that Pierce dealt with would have been tough for any President to tackle, and he did the best he could despite the insanely horrible events that plagued his life. Pierce lived a tragic life, one that any human would struggle to live. Yet he always held his head high through the pain, and that is something to admire.

Review: "We Sold Our Souls For Wicked Lulz" by Something and the Whatevers

At a superficial level, Something and the Whatevers are easy to pigeonhole as a "joke band," notably because of their lyrics. The Lawrence-based trio have lyrics filled with wit, sarcasm, and irony. Even their band name is goofier than most. But musically, their first full-length album, We Sold Our Souls For Wicked Lulz, hints at a wide range of influences and styles, and has a high standard of musicianship.

The first track, "We're Not Even Trying," is probably the strongest Something and the Whatevers song I have heard. Singer Ben narrates the song as if it is your prototypical pop radio song. "This is the part where the guitar solo starts....this is the part where the guitar solo keeps going." If it weren't for his narration, the song is so catchy it might actually pass for a pop radio song.

"Note to Self" is a how-to guide to getting stuff done. One of my favorite tracks, "Paranoid Humanoid," has Ben sounding like a psychopath (and Max Bemis from the band Say Anything) trying to explain how everyone, including John Travolta, is trying to kill him. He's pretty convincing, and the song makes me pretty paranoid listening. In the middle of typing this review, in fact, I had to look out the window to make sure John Travolta was not hiding in a tree in my backyard.

"Slacker Blues" sounds like a Panda Circus (the trio's former band) left over. Singer Quinton reflects about slacker life in the style of Say Anything meets Ben Folds Five meets Weezer. It's in 3/4 time, and it's incredibly catchy.

The whole album is solid, but there are two tracks just need a special mention. "Good Job, Well Done," clocking in at 9:17, is an epic masterpiece. It feels like a ballad, and in the beginning it feels like a serious and sincere congratulations to a recent high school or college graduate. But then Ben starts screaming, and his tone gets sarcastic quickly. And then it speeds up. And self indulgently instrumentally carries on for several minutes. The listener wonders...where are we going with this? Is it worth it to stick around until the end of the song? Why, yes it is. Some of the most meaningful lyrics I have ever heard are on the end of this song. "Sometimes being reasonable is an act of rebellion/sometimes using your eyes and ears is just blasphemy/ sometimes telling the truth is unpatriotic/sometimes writing a ten minute song is really pretentious." Ok, the sarcasm is still there, too.

"Party Harder" is the perfect way to wrap the album up. The title might be misleading because a lot of sad things are described in the song. However, the tone is a happy one, with bright and twinkling piano riffs. It's depressing, but uplifting at the same time.

This is not The Bloodhound Gang. Something and the Whatevers are serious, talented musicians with heavy topics to sing about. Sure, they can be hilarious at times, but only because they are being honest. On We Sold Our Souls For Wicked Lulz, Something and the Whatevers find the perfect mix of originally witty lyrics, polished songwriting, and excellent musicianship. Download this album now as "pay what you want" on its Bandcamp site. 

RIYL: Say Anything, Ben Folds Five, Weezer, They Might Be Giants

Story Time with Mr. Beat - Japanese American Concentration Camps

You may remember them being called "internment camps," but let's call them what they were: "concentration camps." Here is my latest Story Time with Mr. Beat video. If you like it, please share.

Japanese American Concentration Camps

What's backwards? My name is Mr. Beat. It's hard for me not to get angry, very angry, when I think about what the United States government did to nearly 120,000 people of Japanese heritage during World War 2. Here's the story of one of the biggest tragedies in American history- the Japanese American concentration camps.

Once upon a time, there was a nation state called The Empire of Japan. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise military strike on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack directly led the United States to enter World War 2.

Consequently, it also caused anyone in the United States with Japanese heritage to be looked at suspiciously. Japanese Americans had already faced racism and discrimination for nearly 100 years. Now, many Americans thought that Japanese Americans might be more loyal to Japan than the United States. They were afraid of possible Japanese-American sabotage, or the act of destroying, damaging, or blocking something on purpose. Despite the fact there was absolutely no evidence for sabotage, many Americans simply did not trust Japanese Americans.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese persecution increased. Many non-governmental "Jap hunting licenses" were distributed throughout the country. Life magazine published an article describing how to tell a Japanese person from a Chinese person by the shape of the nose and stature of the body.

The hatred and paranoia toward the Japanese was particularly great along the West Coast of the United States. A barbershop in California advertised "free shaves for Japs," with the disclaimer, "not responsible for accidents." A funeral parlor advertised: "I'd rather do business with a Jap than an American."

Several people began talking about removing all Japanese Americans from western states. Two people who led the charge were California Attorney General Earl Warren and Lieutenant Colonel John L. DeWitt. If the name Earl Warren sounds familiar, it's because it's the same Earl Warren who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. DeWitt deeply mistrusted Japanese Americans, and said, "It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty...But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map. " DeWitt also irrationally argued that the fact that Japanese Americans had not yet committed sabotage proved that they were plotting to do it in the future.

In early 1942, Warren, DeWitt, and others pressured President Franklin Roosevelt to kick out all people of Japanese decent in western states, and then lock them up somewhere else. Roosevelt agreed. On February 19th, 1942, he signed Executive Order 9066. It ordered the round-up of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to one of 10 concentration camps, which were officially called "relocation centers." It also said that all people of Japanese ancestry were not allowed to be in the entire state of California and much of Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, except for those in concentration camps in those states.

Over 2/3 of the Japanese who were locked up were American citizens. The vast majority had never even been to Japan. Americans who were as little as 1/16 Japanese could be placed in concentration camps. Even Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to evacuate their homes. Ironically, most Japanese Americans in Hawaii were not forced to leave. The reason why? Powerful businessmen figured Hawaii's economy would be damaged if this large community of people were sent to concentration camps because most the carpenters, transportation workers, and agricultural laborers in the state were of Japanese heritage.

DeWitt was in charge of enforcing Roosevelt's executive order. He posted evacuation orders in Japanese American neighborhoods. They had little time to evacuate. Many were rushed out their homes, only allowed to bring what they could carry with them. Many tried to sell all their belongings before they left, because they could not be certain it would all be there when they got back. Because of the rush to sell, stuff was often sold a fraction of what it was actually worth.

Until the camps were finished, many of the Japanese Americans were held in temporary centers, such as stables at local racetracks. They generally had no idea where they were being sent. The ten camps were located in remote areas of California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas.

Once they made it to camp, they were assigned to poorly constructed, overcrowded barracks. The barracks were made of cheap material and had no plumbing or cooking facilities. In the winter they were too cold, and in the summer they were too hot.

Nearly all families were kept together, though some were accidentally sent to different camps. Families dined together at communal mess halls. The food quality was nothing to get excited about, and it was rationed out at a cost of about 45 cents a day. The United States government hoped the Japanese Americans could grow their own food, but usually the conditions were too poor for growing crops where the camps were located. The Japanese Americans in the camps had inadequate medical care.

Children, as many as 30,000 lived in the camps, were expected to attend the schools built for them there. Many of these children were traumatized by the whole experience. Adults could work if they wanted to, for a measly salary of $5 a day.

American-born Japanese often had more prestige in the camps than the older generation Japanese who were not native to the United States.

The Japanese Americans at these camps were not allowed to leave. The camps were surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. There are documented instances of guards shooting internees who reportedly tried to leave. However, some camp administrators did allow free movement outside the boundaries of the camps. Some internees even left the camps to live in different parts of the United States (not on the West Coast of course.) The U.S. government eventually allowed Japanese Americans a chance to permanently leave the concentration camps if they enlisted in the U.S. Army. Only about 1,200 Japanese Americans took the offer, and a few of these ended up fighting heroically in the war.

The majority of Japanese American families simply felt helpless living in these camps. They often had nobody fighting for them on the outside, and felt like they had lost all constitutional rights. It was difficult for them to have any hope.

A Japanese American named Fred Korematsu, who had become a fugitive and eventually arrested for refusing to go to a concentration camp, fought the United States government. He argued that Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 violated his fifth amendment rights because of his ancestry. His case, which became known as Korematsu v. United States, went to the Supreme Court. The Court sided with the United States government, ruling the order constitutional. The Court ruled the same thing in a similar case, Hirabayashi v. United States.

On January 2nd, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt cancelled Executive Order 9066. One by one the camps were shut down, but the last one remained open until early 1946, several months after the war was over. Finally, they were free. The freed Japanese Americans were given $25 and a train ticket to their former homes. Many returned home to find their belongings missing or destroyed.

To compensate their property losses, the United States Congress passed the American Japanese Claims Act, but in reality the law did not compensate much of what was lost.

In 1980, that's right, 35 years later, Congress finally decided to investigate whether or not the locking up of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War 2 was a good idea. Their conclusion was that it was definitely not. They condemned it by saying it was unjust and motivated by racism and xenophobic ideas rather than real military necessity. In 1988, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act, which formally apologized to the Japanese Americans affected and awarded payments of $20,000 to each camp survivor. The U.S. government eventually gave out more than $1.6 billion in reparations (a reparation is making amends for a past wrong), to 82,219 Japanese Americans who had been victims directly or indirectly.

The forced relocation of Japanese Americans to concentration camps during World War 2 is one of the most despicable acts by the U.S. government in American history. Today we remember it as a tragedy, but it's important to remember that most Americans accepted it or even encouraged it while it was happening. After all, a 1944 opinion poll found that 13 percent of Americans were in favor of killing all the Japanese.

Today, minorities of all kinds continue to be marginalized in society, but it's satisfying to know that now all Americans look back on the Japanese American concentration camps as a deplorable and awful mistake.