Please give your opinion on this video:

[freshwest]

Last edited Fri Jul 11, 2014, 04:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Chinese Policewomen Patrol in Rollerblades, High Heels

Buzz60 - Aug 9, 2011

The Chinese city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province has commissioned eight policewomen to wear rollerblades to patrol the popular Tianfu Square. Surprising?

Yes. But not uncommon, as there are already rollerblading police in Paris. What's shocking is that when the women aren't in skates, they're wearing three-inch high heels.

Rena Karefa-Johnson has more...

It's an old clip but I just found it today. Rena Karefa-Johnson objects to women officers being required to wear high heels. I agree with her, think it's a no brainer. I don't know the rationale for this could be. What are your thoughts?

[randys1]

1. Outrageous...I wonder if Women are disrespected in other ways in China

probably, hell Women are 2nd class citizens in USA so probably also in China

[geardaddy]

2. High heels are modern day bound feet. n/t

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Bingo . nt

[sheshe2]

4. I agree. eom

[freshwest]

8. Yes, I always regarded them as instruments of torture myself. It's all part of the, well, whatever.

Apparently it is also a western form of making women hew to a certain standard of beauty.

[jakeXT]

5. Recently there was a story from Russia about hemlines and fines for uniform modifications

It included a twitter picture of three women wearing short uniforms with heels, but I can't imagine that it's real.

Russian criminals can expect to see a little less of the long legs of the law after authorities decided to ban short skirts and other uniform modifications, amid concerns over rising police hemlines.

According to the Moscow Times, the Russian Interior Ministry has launched a crackdown on modifications to uniforms after concerns over male officers cutting off their shirt sleeves and female officers shortening their skirts.

The new rules, which also prohibit officers from wearing wrinkled items, and combining their uniforms with civilian clothing, follow a decree from Sergei Gerasimov, the deputy interior minister.

According to the Izvestia newspaper, Gerasimov said: "When you meet people, the first thing you see is their clothing, and for a police officer fulfilling his duties, it is crucial to have a tidy and neat appearance."

"From time to time, we have seen instances of officers improperly wearing their uniforms. … Heads (of departments) must pay more attention to the appearance of their subordinates."


....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russian-policewomen-to-be-disciplined-for-short-skirts-in-crackdown-on-rising-hemlines-9564562.html

[Warpy]

7. Clue phone: bag the stupid dresses

The uniform should be shorts in summer, long slacks in winter.

[In_The_Wind]

9. I agree.

[Warpy]

6. The heels are popular among them because of the added height

Height confers a certain amount of authority, something a female cop could always use more of.

Yes, those shoes will ruin their backs and feet and they can't run in them. However, the ones in heels are likely traffic cops and running doesn't come up often.

They took cops out of prowl cars and put them on bicycles here. Result: healthier cops who can run down bad guys very easily.

[ismnotwasm]

10. Stupid.

The rational is probably a professional look as as apposed to a practical use. I'm curious what their actual duties are? When I used to wear high heels if I had to run, they were the first thing to come off.


I don't like high heels, but I've done my time in them. My feet can hurt in the sneakers I wear all day after a hard days work.

[freshwest]

15. Yeah, probably a 'posh' area and they want a certain look, like models. But that's not all there is.

China also has a lot of women in the armed forces, too:

Women in Chinese military

Published on Jan 28, 2013

Chinese women comprise about 7.5 percent of total military personnel in the PLA . Though most women soldiers still serve in traditional women roles or in military support positions, more women soldiers appear on positions that involved dangerous tasks. In 2009, the first batch of female jet fighter pilots, aged 21 to 24, graduated after 44 months of training. There are also women serve in Marine Corps, Special Forces, drug criminal police, etc. At the same time, women soldiers began to appear in public through mass media more often. During the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China military parade, the marching group formed by female soldiers caught much attention. All of the women soldiers were marching in short miniskirts and white leather boots through Tiananmen Square. The group of female soldiers consists of troops from the army, the navy and the air force, which makes it the biggest marching group in the modern history of military parades anywhere in the world. According to China's state channel, CCTV, the requirement for female participation in the commemorating parade was being "brave, beautiful and elegant" altered from being just "brave".

Chinese Female Soldiers and Militias

Chinese Beautiful Pink Army March Past 中華人民共和國國慶

Chinese women brave broken bottles to become bodyguards

Miscellaneous photo of boys and girls at a training camp:



There's something for everyone there.

[seabeyond]

11. ya. stupid. and the women have to do any work, what? they call a man that can actually

move?

[freshwest]

13. They must think the women are just decoration...

[seabeyond]

14. hmmmm. "they" are pretty consistent with most of the world.

[freshwest]

16. Please check my later reply to ismnotwasm above:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125547199#post15

More going on than in the OP video, a lot more. Equality?

So much symmetry, it's surreal. But don't armed forces strive to be that way?

[theHandpuppet]

17. Looks that way, doesn't it?

Of course, our own cops are all dressed up like Rambo on a testosterone binge and that hasn't done anything to reduce the crime rate. My guess is -- and I'm going way out on a limb here -- that there's a mindset out there that would claim the presence of pretty women in skirts and heels actually serves as a deterrent.

By the way, welcome back, sea!

[gollygee]

12. You know the saying about Ginger Rogers?

That she did everything Frank Sinatra did, but backwards and in heels?

it's like a golf handicap. It makes their job more difficult, if it involves being on their feet or moving. It's an unfair job advantage for men.

And that's only one problem. It's also just plain bad for the feet, and objectifying, but my primary thought was that they'll have a harder time competing for good positions at work if they're having to do their jobs in heels.

[theHandpuppet]

18. The one positive I see in those dominatrix heels...

... any woman properly trained to kick with those things could do some serious damage in places that could subdue a suspect like a bolt of lightning.

[thucythucy]

19. I agree with the sentiment and everything you say about heels

but it's Fred Astaire, not Frank Sinatra.

Just so you know.

[gollygee]

20. Oh yeah I know that

I have NO IDEA why I typed Frank Sinatra. Must have had him on the brain or something.

[thucythucy]

21. Happens all the time.

I've had Elvis on the brain for a week now. "Elvis from Memphis" to be precise. The way he sings "Long Black Limousine" just sends tingles down my spine. Frank of course is no slouch either.

Best wishes.