Ukraine's plan for female cadets to march in high heels sparks outrage

[Dial H For Hero]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-s-plan-female-cadets-march-high-heels-sparks-outrage-n1273061



Ukraine's defense ministry has been heavily criticized over plans for female cadets to march in high heels at a parade celebrating the country's independence next month.

Photos published by the ministry on Facebook Thursday showed the women from the Military Institute at the Taras Shevchenko National University in the country's capital, Kyiv, marching in the shoes, along with camouflage pants, shirts and hats.

The cadets have been practicing twice daily, for an average of four hours a day, the ministry said in a post alongside the pictures. The Aug. 24 parade in Kyiv will mark the 30th anniversary of the country’s independence.

The images were met with outrage online, with some commenters questioning the choice of footwear and calling it "torture."

[Disaffected]

1. As far as I can tell from the photo,

they are all babelicious. I wonder if that is a coincidence.

[Dial H For Hero]

2. That's not a bug, it's a feature.

[Klaralven]

3. To make it work, they need skinnier fatigues

And lose the cargo pockets.

[Silent3]

4. Perhaps the (very misguided) thought was like the old quip about Ginger Rogers...

…that she (and these women) can do everything that Fred Astaire (and male soldiers) can do, but backwards and in high heels.

[XanaDUer2]

5. I guess they're not stilettos

[Wounded Bear]

6. Why did this make me think of...

[librechik]

7. Are They Low Sparks?

cuz I love Traffic.

LOL no, this is...no! It's so disrespectful. OMG. I'm going to have to rethink Ukraine.

[malaise]

8. There are some seriously sick men on this planet

Madness

[tanyev]

9. That's a good way to get foot/leg/back injuries that could affect their ability

to serve as soldiers. Do they want them to be ready to fight or have they been for show all along?

[3catwoman3]

10. This is completely ridiculous and inappropriate!

When I was stationed at Yokota AB in Japan in the late 1970s, the base commander decided to hold an open ranks inspection of the hospital staff. He specified that he wanted the female officers and enlisted personnel to wear skirts eve though pants were an authorized uniform choice. I was really pissed.

[Bayard]

11. It might be okay if the men also had to wear them

Torture should be unisex.

I can't walk in heels anymore under normal circumstances (everybody at my niece's wedding a few years ago probably thought I was drunk). I can't imagine having to march in them.

[haele]

12. We weren't allowed to wear heels unless we were wearing skirts.

Working dungeree/camo type uniforms, we had to wear boots, not combat, but over the ankle. Uniform dress or working (office work uniforms), we had to wear oxford style leather or "clorfram" shoes, shined to a high gloss.
Only with skirt uniforms could you wear simple black or white pumps, with a heel from 3/4" to 2" max. I wore 3/4", not much different than my other uniform shoes when I had to. Most women stuck to 1" heels.
We matched for bootcamp graduation in service dress blue with skirts. A few young ladies had selected the 2" heels during intake; after 6 weeks of practice marching, they had turned them in for the 1' heels due to both foot pain and cracking heels.
The heels those cadets are marching in are just one little asphalt seam from breaking.

Haele

[lpbk2713]

13. The Defense Ministry got a good deal on them from Amazon.