Adornment!!

[Brad Murphy]

Just stirring the pot (because I find it fun to point out contradictions involving pet "convictions" as contrasted with other things which are NOT "convictions"):

From Wikipedia:

In ancient Rome, sex trade was legal, and female prostitutes were readily identified by their high heels (Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece by Nigel Guy Wilson, 2005).

Reasons for wearing high heels, which are almost exclusively aesthetic, include:
They change the angle of the foot with respect to the lower leg, which accentuates the appearance of calves.
They change the wearer's posture, requiring a more upright carriage and altering the gait in what is considered a seductive fashion.
They make the wearer appear taller.
They make the legs appear longer.
They make the foot appear smaller.
They make the toes appear shorter.
They make the arches of the feet higher and better defined.
They make the lower leg muscles more defined.
They make the gluteus maximus more defined.
They may improve the tone of a woman's pelvic floor.[4][5]

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Brad Murphy

Just stirring the pot (because I find it fun to point out contradictions involving pet "convictions" as contrasted with other things which are NOT "convictions"):

From Wikipedia:

In ancient Rome, sex trade was legal, and female prostitutes were readily identified by their high heels (Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece by Nigel Guy Wilson, 2005).

I would love to check his sources on that, but the Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece is $180.00 on Amazon.com. What on earth??? I hope that's a set!

Reasons for wearing high heels, which are almost exclusively aesthetic, include:
They change the angle of the foot with respect to the lower leg, which accentuates the appearance of calves.
They change the wearer's posture, requiring a more upright carriage and altering the gait in what is considered a seductive fashion.
They make the wearer appear taller.
They make the legs appear longer.
They make the foot appear smaller.
They make the toes appear shorter.
They make the arches of the feet higher and better defined.
They make the lower leg muscles more defined.
They make the gluteus maximus more defined.
They may improve the tone of a woman's pelvic floor.[4][5]

I agree 100% that the reasons for wearing heels are almost exclusively aesthetic.

I also find it interesting that Paul mentioned jewelry, veils and apparel, but didn't mention make-up or high heels even once. You would think that if prostitutes were known by their blackened eyes and stilettos in "ancient Greece" that Paul might have told the church ladies to wear flats and wash their eyelids.

Also from wikipedia:

Some passages in Roman authors seem to indicate that prostitutes displayed themselves in the nude. Nudity was associated with slavery, as an indication that the person was literally stripped of privacy and the ownership of one's own body. A passage from Seneca describes the condition of the prostitute as a slave for sale:

Naked she stood on the shore, at the pleasure of the purchaser; every part of her body was examined and felt. Would you hear the result of the sale? The pirate sold; the pimp bought, that he might employ her as a prostitute."[35]

Aha! The Source! The original quote from "Alexis", 4th century [BC] writer:

"287. Prostitutes. Athens, 4th cent. B.C. (Alexis, fr. 18 PCG. G)

First of all, they care about making money and robbing their neighbours. Everything else has second priority. They string up traps for everyone. Once they start making money they take in new prostitutes who are getting their first start in the profession. They remodel these girls immediately, and their manners and looks remain no longer the same. Supposed one of them is small; cork is sewn into her shoes. Tall? she wears thin slippers and goes around with her head pitched towards her shoulder; that reduces her height. No hips? she puts on a bustle, and the onlookers make comments about her nice bottom. They have false breasts for them like the comic actors'; they set them on straight out and pull their dresses forwards as if with punting poles. Eyebrows too light? They paint them with lamp-black. Too dark? she smears on white lead. Skin too white? she rubs on rouge. If a part of her body is pretty, she shows it bare. Nice teeth? then she is forced to keep laughing, so present company can see the mouth she's so proud of. If she doesn't like laughing, she spends the day inside, like the meat at the butcher's, when goats' heads are on sale; she keeps a thin slip of myrtle wood propped up between her lips, so that in time she will grin, whether she wants to or not. They rebuild their bodies with these devices."