It all started with an epic quest to find a pair of red pumps. Maybe I was fooling myself, maybe someone else would have known better, but I did not expect to have to spend several hours going from store to store looking for these shoes. I ran into just about every problem you can when shopping for shoes. They only had sizes that were too big or too small, the display shoe was the right size but no one could find the matching one and some stores didn't have any pairs at all. I wasn't even being picky. I'd be happy with satin or patent leather, strap, peep toe, sling back...anything, as long as they were red and had a heel.
I hung my head and made one more stop before resigning myself to the truth. I would have to go to the mall, a venture I usually find stressful and unrewarding. So I walked into Sears, straight through to the shoes and there they were. I approached the sales clerk, shoe in hand, and told her my whole sad story and then I said "Can I see these in a seven and a half please?" I waited patiently delighted that I wouldn't be going home empty handed, wouldn't have to brave the mall. But then she returned. She looked crestfallen, "We don't have any seven and a halfs." My first thought was to fall to the floor dramatically and shake my fists in the air going, "Noooooooooo!" Instead I asked, "Do you have an eight? I can work with an eight." She had them in an eight.
Of course, it's not about the shoes. It's about the conversation they started. A conversation about the difference between flirting with a woman making her feel attractive and sexy, and objectifying her which generally just makes her feel like she needs a shower. There is a line between complimenting a woman and being a skeeze. Some people honestly don't seem to know where that line is and others just seem to enjoy stomping all over it. Certainly there are different lines depending on the friendship, but this is just the origin story. So my friend suggested I start a blog entitled, "I'm Not a Pair of Shoes" and here we are.
Because being a girl and being a slut are not the same thing.
