A line of baby accessories made to look like high heels is receiving lots of criticism on social media as mothers and others let it be known they think the shoes are inappropriate.
Pee Wee Pumps are baby slippers with a collapsible heel that are meant for little ones up to 6 months old. When pictures of babies wearing these accessories hit social media sites like Instagram and Facebook recently, they incited a backlash against moms who outfitted their tots in the fake pumps.
“Do they [realize] that the reason heeled shoes are perceived as sexy is because the heel forces the wearer to walk with chest/buttocks out for balance and an exaggerated arch in the foot mimicking (apparently) feet during orgasm?” wrote one Facebook commenter in the group Let Clothes Be Clothes, which, to be fair, seems focused mostly on why clothes should be gender neutral.
“Soon women will be having Barbie shoes surgically inserted into their wombs, so that their embryonic daughters can be 'princesses' before they breathe independently,” another user commented.
“Apart from the tremendously worrying sexualization of children such products contribute to, I don’t even want to know the effects those shoes would have on small, developing feet,” a third chimed in (although it was clear that the shoes are slippers, have a collapsible heel, and are mainly for photographic purposes).
Pee Wee Pumps founder Michele Holbrook called it much ado about nothing, saying, “It’s like putting a baby in to a cute romper or tutu — it’s an accessory and there’s no more to it,” Hello Giggles reported.
Most Twitter users seemed to agree with the Facebook posters, however, that the tiny fake heels are inappropriate and send the wrong message about baby glamour.