Not long ago, a striking photo of bloody feet beside a pair of high heels went viral. It showed the painful reality of a Canadian waitress who had been forced to work an entire week in stilettos. Soon after, actress Julia Roberts made headlines at the Cannes Film Festival by going barefoot on the red carpet—protesting society’s warped standards of how women should look.
Inspired by both moments, Swedish craftsman and comedian Emil Andersson decided to take part in the #highheelsatwork challenge. Strapping on a pair of pink pumps with 10-centimeter heels, he headed out to work for a full day.
“It was absolutely terrible,” Emil later admitted.
He wanted to make a bold statement about the unfair expectations placed on women compared to men. “I saw the pictures of Julia Roberts and the bloody feet, and I thought—it’s just not right. Imagine having to do this every day at work,” he explained.
That day, Emil was assigned to install flooring on the fourth floor of a building. To really drive the point home, he avoided elevators and took the stairs multiple times, just as many women are forced to endure long days in heels.
The result? His feet ended up swollen, bruised, red, and painfully sore. “I almost wished they would bleed just so it would look as bad as it felt,” he confessed.
Emil later launched the “High Heels at Work Challenge” online, posting his experience on social media and YouTube to spread awareness of gender inequality in workplace dress codes.
