Putting ankles to the test

Any men who happened to pass through the Lib Jackson Student Union on Saturday, March 18, had the opportunity to put their ankles to the test and experience a small slice of womanhood.

Hosted by Coastal Carolina University’s Social Justice Club, the “Walk A Mile in Our Shoes” event offered men a chance to try walking in high heels as a symbolic way of supporting women around the world. Vice President and Treasurer Rebecca Monts said the event was inspired from seeing similar events of men walking in heels to bring awareness to women’s issues.

“I was sitting in my room, and I was like, I really want to do something for Women’s History Month,” she said. “And I always see like, you know, ‘Walk A Mile,’ and I see police walking in heels trying to separate the barriers between men and women, and I really was like, ‘I want to bring that on Coastal’s campus.’”

Sophomore Ani Washington, a member of the Social Justice Club, said she felt eliminating gender biases and bringing awareness to violence against women is an important topic to discuss on campus. She said she was drawn to the club after a friend introduced her and felt the need to help support their cause.

“Everybody was so inviting,” Washington said. “I feel like I’m more involved in this campus than I’ve ever been, and I just recently joined not too long ago, so I think it’s definitely for everyone.”

Having been involved with the club for more than a year, Monts said it’s already grown exponentially. She said what was once five active members has now become 45.

Assistant Director of Performances for Coastal Activities Board (CAB) Terence Wright said he is also familiar with the Social Justice Club. He was one of the men at the event who experienced walking in heels for the first time in his life.

“I was scared I was going to fall, but I was glad I was doing it for a good cause,” he said.

Monts said the club plans to make this a recurring event in the future, and they want to expand it even further. She said some circumstances affected planning, such as short staffing of campus police on weekends preventing them from attending. Because of this, they would like to host it during weekdays so more people can be involved.

“I actually want to incorporate the football team for athletic events and see if they want to join,” Monts said, “because I feel like you know, athletes, they are more masculine, and that would really show, ‘Hey, this is a way to really eliminate the stigma.”