Sunday, April 17, 2011

Shoes with Built-In Drawers



This video is all the rage in Brazil right now. I'm not exactly sure if these shoes are for sale or if they are just a sexist-classist joke on working-class Brazilian women who do their shopping at outdoor markets. Pay special attention to the objects that the male narrator (who, of course, would know what women need to take with them when they are out and about) suggests the wearer can keep inside the shoe (as we know, the foot is one of the most "common" fetishes, whatever that means): a condom, a tampon, a ring (wedding band?), an earring and a lipstick. It's interesting to see what this fantasy of a shoe/foot imagines the woman's foot hides inside her feet. Not something perhaps more neutral and practical like keys or a driver's license, but the accoutrements of femininity, female-ness and sex. The narrator makes some references as to where it might be a good idea to wear the drawer-shoes, citing places that would be popular among poorer women (25 de Março Street in Sao Paulo, a rodeo party and a Baile Funk at the favela, shown below). He also says that the shoes are great to hide your goods in case one is mugged ("assalto" in Portuguese, the same word for "(sexual) assault").

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