I understand the stereotypical female shoe fetish. I understand the draw to higher arches, slimmer heels, pointier toes, shinier patent leather. In a profession where office dress is often highly regulated, a woman's shoe is where she expresses both her power and her femininity. When, Ms. Stiletto, a powerful female professional, marches into a room in a 5 inch black pointy-toed stiletto, you can almost hear the click of the heels say "I am woman, hear me roar."

Ms. Stiletto, I highly admire you and your shoes, but I am not one of you. I've tried, but my feet hurt and my balance is lacking. With my one-inch high, thick, rubber-heeled, square-toed shoes, my feet thank me at the end of the day. I'm able to glide around a large office, bound up or down the stairs with ease and without a loud clack.

However, Ms. Stiletto, when I enter silently into a room, I see you glancing at my feet. I can see your judging eye. The men in the room rarely notice my shoes, but you do. They are not the ones thinking that I am too unconfident or timid to wear a bolder, "girlier" shoe. This is girl-on-girl judgment, and I'm standing up against it. I am standing up to say that my thick, low-heel diminishes neither my femininity nor my position as a viable professional.

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I am not afraid to represent myself as a powerful woman, I just choose not to do so through my feet. My choice of a practical shoe does not reflect upon you. It does not make you less of a powerful woman. So why the stares? Why the pity? I'm not sad or lonely. I do not have low self-esteem, despite what you may think my shoes are telling you. If my shoes must say anything, let them say that I am practical, hard-working, and willing to be on my feet long into the night.

Being both a woman and a professional is a hard enough line to walk, as you know, without other professional women judging my choice of how to walk that line and what shoes to wear when doing so. So Ms. Stiletto, I ask you to re-think your opinion of me, Ms. Rubber-heel.