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Home»juliasheelsjuliasheelsViolence against women and girls

Juliasheels -

Here’s a short piece inspired by “juliasheels” — as a concept, a persona, or a poetic image.

Click. Pause. Click. That’s how you know Julia’s coming— long before she rounds the corner. Her heels don’t tap the marble floor; they declare it. juliasheels

She says a heel is architecture for the desperate. Arch, balance, lift— a woman three inches closer to heaven, and three inches farther from apology. Here’s a short piece inspired by “juliasheels” —

And when she finally leaves— alone, as always, by choice— the only things left behind are a faint scent of cherry blossom and the echo of her heels on the pavement, fading like a secret you almost understood. She says a heel is architecture for the desperate

One night, at a party full of barefoot women holding their heels by the straps, Julia stands at the bar, still laced in her Louboutins. Someone asks her, Aren’t your feet killing you? She takes a slow sip of her drink and smiles. “That’s the point,” she says. “Everything worth wearing should leave a mark.”

Julia never runs. Even when the subway doors are closing, even when the rain turns her silk blouse into a second skin— she walks. Click. Pause. Click. The rhythm of someone who knows that speed is for people with something to catch up to.

Black stilettos on Mondays, patent leather knives splitting the week in half. Wednesdays are burgundy suede, soft as a bruise, sharp as a promise. By Friday, she’s in crimson pumps, the ones that make men forget their own names.

About the author: Emma Fulu

juliasheels
Emma Fulu has a PhD from the University of Melbourne and is a global expert on violence against women and girls. She is the founder and director of the Equality Institute which works to advance all forms of equality and prevent violence against women through scientific research, innovation and creative communications. Most recently Emma was the Programme Manager for What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls – a DFID-funded global programme investing an unprecedented £25 million over 5 years to the prevention of violence against women and girls across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Before this she worked at Partners for Prevention: a joint UN programme, and was the Principal Investigator for the UN Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence. Emma has presented and published widely on the issue of violence against women including in The Lancet. She is the author of the book ‘Domestic Violence in Asia: Globalization, gender and Islam in the Maldives’ and also blogs for the Huffington Post UK on gender issues.

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