灰姑娘的水晶鞋、桃樂絲的紅寶石鞋，我們從小就聽著這些童話長(zhǎng)大；Sex and the City中的Carrie為鞋不惜一切；Devil in Prada的海報(bào)就是一只大紅色的高跟鞋；《流星花園》中的藤堂靜也說：“每個(gè)女人都要有一雙好鞋，它會(huì)帶你去任何想去的地方?！迸藨傩臼翘旖?jīng)地義的事情——因?yàn)槲覀兌枷胝业侥请p只屬于自己的玻璃鞋。

We begin our pilgrimage into a woman’s heart outside the

Discount Shoe Warehouse (DSW) store in Littleton， Colo. For spiritual guidance， we say a reverent “Hail

1)Imelda，” then push open the double glass doors to paradise.

Pausing just inside this cavernous temple， we are dazzled and stunned. It’s a vision of wonder: rows of shoes in the Discount Shoe Warehouse. Shoes on sale. Shoes on clearance. Shoes in every color. Shoes with straps or buckles or 2)Gore-Tex lining. Shoes for hundreds， maybe thousands， of feet.

In this temporary state of grace， the heart of woman is revealed—and it’s 3)suede with a two-inch heel. The love affair between women and shoes runs deep. Often it’s something beyond words， a 4)visceral and pure devotion to sling backs and kitten heels.

“I just love shoes，” said Leslie Renda of Castle Rock， Colo.， as she perused the clearance racks at DSW. “I don’t know if I can explain why. I used to have 80 pairs. Now when I get a new pair I have to hide them. My husband says， ‘Are those new?’ ‘No!’”

It’s simply the joy of shoes， a joy recognized early by most girls， one that grows with age.

Consider the fairy tales little girls are told:

Cinderella with her glass slippers， which help her win the prince’s heart. 5)Dorothy’s ruby slippers， which take her home.

Shoes never cause a woman to question whether she looks fat in them. They have the power to improve an otherwise 6)bleak day. Shoes provide a solid foundation for whatever complex psychology is going on with the rest of the outfit. Shoes， wrote author 7)Nicholson Baker， “are the first adult machines we are given to master.”

And women are masters. In the first 10 months of 2002， U.S. women spent $16 billion on 545 million pairs of shoes， compared to the $13 billion men spent on 284 million pairs， according to the NPD Group， a New York-based research group that tracks retail sales and trends.

“There’s such variety with shoes that a woman can really reflect her personality with them，” said Diane Bucci， manager of the Littleton DSW store. “She can have shoes to match every outfit. Or she’ll buy a pair that go with only one thing in her wardrobe. We call those one-outfit shoes.”

Whereas men tend to limit their shoe purchases to brown， black and 8)sneakers， said DSW assistant manager James Green， women have no problem loading up on wildly impractical shoes， especially if they’re on sale. And especially if they look good， or feel good， or give her a buzz when she glances down and catches a glimpse of them on her feet. Renda described it as a rush， slipping her feet into a new pair of shoes， absorbing their new-shoe smell， walking around in them for the first time.

Lisa Athon of Parker， Colo.， another DSW customer， can relate. She appreciates the variety available in women’s shoes， and how shoes can update an outfit. Even if a woman can’t afford to 9)purge her wardrobe every season， a new pair of shoes can make her feel stylish and her outfits feel fresh.

Much has been made of the shoe-sex connection， of the 10)fetishes and 11)Freudian analyses of the male-designed 12)subjugation wrought by high heels. Still more has been made of the physiological damage shoes can do， especially high heels. Colorado Springs 13)chiropractor Kerra Foreman said heels cause the spine to shift forward and 14)aggravate existing problems from the lower back to the jaw.

15)Podiatrist Jim Gremillion said women outnumber men four to one in his practice. They buy shoes that are too small， not realizing the average person’s foot swells half a size in width and length during the day. They wear high heels， ignoring the fact that for every inch of heel， another 20 pounds of pressure is inflicted on the ball of the foot. “We’ve made good progress (in educating women about shoes)，” he said， “but vanity stands in our way.”

Which is a real predicament， because what woman hasn’t been willing to suffer just a little bit for a fabulous pair of shoes? Seeing a woman in torturously pointed heels or ridiculously 16)flimsy sandals is to think， in equal measure， “17)Dang， that looks painful” and “Dang， those are great shoes.”

At least， you’d think that if you’re a woman， because you know what’s in your heart.

在科羅拉多州利特爾頓的折扣鞋倉(cāng)（DSW）門外，我們開始了通向女性內(nèi)心的朝圣之旅。我們虔誠(chéng)地說了聲“伊梅爾達(dá)萬(wàn)歲”，給自己的心靈指明方向。然后，我們推開了通往天堂的雙層玻璃門。

一踏進(jìn)這個(gè)深幽幽的圣殿，我們就眼花繚亂，目瞪口呆了。奇跡就出現(xiàn)在我們的眼前：DSW里的鞋子成行成列的。這里有正在大減價(jià)的鞋、作清倉(cāng)處理的鞋、各種顏色的鞋；有系帶的、系扣的、戈?duì)柼厮挂r里的鞋子。那是給數(shù)百雙，也許數(shù)千雙腳準(zhǔn)備的鞋。

在蒙受天恩的短暫時(shí)刻，女性的內(nèi)心世界表露無(wú)遺——那是一雙兩英寸高的絨面高跟鞋。女性與鞋之間的愛戀史源遠(yuǎn)流長(zhǎng)。對(duì)于后帶低跟鞋，女性那發(fā)自內(nèi)心的、純粹的執(zhí)著是難以言表的。

“我就是喜歡鞋，” 科羅拉多州羅克堡的萊斯利·倫達(dá)一邊仔細(xì)翻揀著DSW里的清倉(cāng)貨，一邊說道?！拔也恢雷约耗芊癜堰@事兒說明白。我以前有八十雙鞋?，F(xiàn)在，如果我買了一雙新鞋，我就得把它藏起來。我丈夫問：‘這是新的嗎？’‘不是！’”

這絕對(duì)是由鞋帶來的愉悅，大部分女孩很小就意識(shí)到這種愉悅，而且它隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)而增加。想想那些小女孩們熟知的童話吧：灰姑娘腳上的水晶鞋幫助她贏得了王子的愛情。桃樂絲那對(duì)鑲滿紅寶石的鞋把她領(lǐng)回了家。

鞋子從不會(huì)讓一名女性對(duì)自己是否顯胖產(chǎn)生懷疑，它們還有本事讓女性的心情由陰轉(zhuǎn)晴。女性一身的行頭所帶來的復(fù)雜心理最終是要以鞋子作為堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)的。作家尼科爾森·貝克說，鞋子“是交到我們手中，讓我們自主支配的第一個(gè)成人機(jī)器?！?/p>

女性確實(shí)是鞋子行業(yè)的主人。美國(guó)紐約一個(gè)追蹤零售額及其趨勢(shì)的研究小組NPD集團(tuán)的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字表明，在2002年的頭十個(gè)月里，美國(guó)女性買了五億四千五百萬(wàn)雙鞋子，花費(fèi)了160億美元，相比之下，男性只買了兩億八千四百萬(wàn)雙鞋，花了130億美元。

“鞋子的款式千變?nèi)f化，因此女性完全可以借此彰顯自己的個(gè)性，”利特爾頓DSW的經(jīng)理黛安娜·布奇說，“她可以擁有一雙能與所有外套相配的百搭鞋，也可以買一雙只跟她衣櫥里的一樣?xùn)|西相配的鞋，我們稱之為‘孤配鞋’?！?/p>

DSW的經(jīng)理助理詹姆斯·格林說，男性購(gòu)買的鞋趨向于局限在棕色、黑色和運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋之內(nèi)，而女性則會(huì)毫不猶豫地為自己買上一雙相當(dāng)不實(shí)用的鞋子，特別是碰上大減價(jià)的時(shí)候。如果這些鞋子漂亮，感覺舒適，或者當(dāng)女人往下看，鞋子套在腳上的樣子讓她興奮的時(shí)候就更是如此。把腳伸進(jìn)一雙新鞋，沐浴著新鞋的氣味，穿著它們第一次行走，那種感覺被倫達(dá)稱為一種無(wú)名的興奮。

科羅拉多州帕克市的莉莎·阿當(dāng)也是一名DSW的顧客，她也認(rèn)同這種感受。女鞋應(yīng)有盡有的款式，以及鞋子讓一身行頭煥然一新的本事讓她心存感激。即使一位女性做不到每個(gè)季節(jié)都把自己的衣櫥清空更新，一雙新鞋也能讓她覺得神采飛揚(yáng)，讓她的一身打扮顯得清新。

由高跟鞋引起的關(guān)于戀物情結(jié)以及對(duì)男性征服論的弗洛伊德式分析里，關(guān)于鞋與性別的關(guān)系已經(jīng)被說得太多了。但更多的分析則是關(guān)于鞋子，特別是高跟鞋給人造成的生理傷害?？屏_拉多州斯波林的脊柱指壓治療師克萊·福爾曼說，高跟鞋會(huì)導(dǎo)致人的脊柱前移，愈發(fā)加劇后腰到頜骨的已有疾患。

足病醫(yī)生詹姆·格雷米林說，在他的病人當(dāng)中，女性與男性的比例是四比一。她們買的鞋子太小了，因?yàn)樗齻儧]有意識(shí)到一般人的腳在白天縱橫向都會(huì)大半個(gè)碼。她們穿高跟鞋時(shí)，絲毫不理會(huì)鞋跟的高度每增加一英寸，拇趾就要多承受20磅的壓力。他說：“我們?cè)谙蚺孕麄餍拥南嚓P(guān)知識(shí)方面取得了很大的進(jìn)步，但虛榮心是大敵。”

這真是一個(gè)兩難的困境，一名女性為了一雙華美的鞋怎么會(huì)不愿意作出一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)犧牲呢？看到一名女性腳蹬歪歪扭扭的尖高跟鞋，或者可笑的搖搖欲墜的涼鞋，兩個(gè)想法會(huì)同時(shí)冒出來：“見鬼，穿那雙鞋太痛苦了”，還有，“見鬼，那雙鞋可真不賴?！?/p>

至少，如果你是位女性，你一定會(huì)那樣想，因?yàn)槟阒雷约旱膬?nèi)心深處在想什么。