Heel & Heal

Heal (pronounced heel)

(1) To make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment.

(2) To bring to an end or conclusion, as conflicts between people or groups, usually with the strong implication of restoring former amity; settle; reconcile.

(3) To free from evil; cleanse; purify:

Pre 900: From the Middle English helen, from the Old English hǣlan (cure; save; make whole, sound and well), from the Proto-Germanic hailijaną (to heal, make whole, save) from which Old Saxon picked up helian and Gothic gained ga-hailjan (to heal, cure), the literal translation of which was "to make whole", all of these from the primitive Indo-European koyl (safe; unharmed).  It was cognate with the Dutch helen, the Saterland Frisian heila, heilen & hela, the Danish hele, the Swedish hela, the Old High German heilen, the Old Norse heila, the Scots hale & hail and the Gothic hailjan, all derivative of hāl & hale (whole).  The Modern English health, healthy, healthily etc were later derivations.  Heal is a noun & verb, healing is a noun & verb and healed is a verb; the noun plural is heals.

Heel (pronounced heel)

(1) The back part of the human foot, below and behind the ankle.

(2) An analogous part in other vertebrates.

(3) In zoology, either hind foot or hoof of some animals, as the horse.

(4) The part of a stocking, shoe, or the like covering the back part of the wearer's foot.

(5) A solid, raised base or support of leather, wood, rubber, etc, attached to the sole of a shoe or boot under the back part of the foot.

(6) By analogy, things resembling the back part of the human foot in position, shape etc, such as the heel of a loaf of bread.

(7) The rear of the palm of the hand, adjacent to the wrist.

(8) The latter or concluding part of anything (now rare).

(9) In architecture, the lower end of any of various more or less vertical objects, as rafters, spars, sternposts of vessels or the exterior angle of an angle iron.

(10) In naval architecture, the after end of a keel or the inner end of a bowsprit or jib boom.

(11) The crook in the head of a golf club.

(12) In railroad construction, the end of a frog farthest from a switch.

(13) In horticulture, the base of any part, as of a cutting or tuber, that is removed from a plant for use in the propagation of that plant.

(14) A vile, contemptibly dishonorable or irresponsible person, one thought untrustworthy, unscrupulous, or generally despicable.

(15) In cock-fighting, to arm (a gamecock) with spurs.

(16) In admiralty jargon, the inclined position from the vertical when a vessel is at ten (or more) degrees of list.

Pre 850: From the Middle English helden, a variant of the earlier heeld and derived from the Old English hēla, heald & hieldan (to lean or slope).  It was cognate with the Dutch hiel, the Old Frisian hêl, the Old Norse hallr and the Old High German helden (to bow).  In the sense of “back of the foot”, root is the Old English hela, from the Proto-Germanic hanhilon which was cognate with the Old Norse hæll, the Old Frisian hel and the Dutch hiel), all derived from the primitive Indo-European kenk (heel, bend of the knee).  The meaning "back of a shoe or boot" is circa 1400 and features in a number or English phrases: Down at heel (1732) refers to heels of boots or shoes worn down when the owner was too poor to have them repaired; the Achilles' heel refers to only vulnerable spot in the figure from Greek mythology; in Middle English, fighten with heles (to fight with (one's) heels) meant "to run away."  The idiomatic phrase "he's a heel" began in professional wrestling, where it was used to describe a villainous character who breaks the rules, cheats, and generally behaves in an unethical manner to gain an advantage (sometimes as part of the script).  In modern use, "he's a heel" has be repurposed to disparage unsatisfactory dates, boyfriends & husbands.  The nautical, Admiralty and architectural forms are all derived (however remotely) from the earlier meanings related to slopes and angles.  Heeled & heeling are nouns & verbs, heelful is a noun and heeling is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is heels.

Heels in the military

United States Army Class A (Dress A) Uniform guide (women).

Heels in the shoes of women’s military uniforms are not unusual and the US Army guide is typical, specifying between ½ - 3 inch height on a closed-toe pump, essentially anything between a flat and a kitten heel.  With the formal dress uniforms worn for dinners and such, higher heels have long been worn.  In Western militaries, heels have never been worn with combat uniforms or when drill-marching although they’re not an unusual sight on parade grounds, worn with dress uniforms.  They have however in recent years been seen on female soldiers in both the DPRK (North Korean) and Russian armies although there seems to be no evidence of the practice during the Warsaw Pact era.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; North Korea): female soldiers.

Like his father (Kim Jong-il (1941–2011; The DPRK's Dear Leader, 1994-2011) and grandfather, (Kim Il-sung (1912-1994; The DPRK's Great Leader, 1948-1994), Kim Jong-un (b 1983; The DPRK's Supreme Leader (originally The Great Successor) since 2011) likes women in heels (note the big hats, a long tradition in the DPRK armed forces although the structural similarity to the Jewish Shtreimel is mere coincidence).  Because the whole DPRK military seems to be run by someone in the vein of General Scheisskopf (in German, literally "shit-head", the character in Joseph Heller's (1923-1999) Catch-22 (1961) who was obsessed with marching), the heels really are functional and better than combat boots.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; North Korea): female soldiers marching.

The use of any sort of heel (or conventional shoe) may seem a strange choice for military use but there's never been much to suggest it's footwear designed for the battlefield.  Actually, there are a number of analysts who maintain the whole DPRK military is not intended for actual deployment under battlefield conditions, especially in any conflict likely to extend beyond the few weeks their logistical support is thought capable of remaining effective.  However, as a well-drilled mass-formation able to march in public ceremonies, the DPRK's soldiers excel and the state's choreographed events have no match in the world, something emphasised by the cinematography, packaged quickly into slick productions for distribution to international news services.  For these purposes, women in heels works well because boots are heavy and some of the steps (including a few with some "wardrobe malfunction" potential) the women are required to perform for long duration marches would be impossible for some if they had to wear combat boots.

Russian female soldiers.

Women in the Russian military appear to use a variety of heel heights with dress uniforms including even stilettos which is interesting.  Presumably  the stilettos are used only when marching on smooth, regular surfaces; it would be very difficult to march on the cobble stones in Moscow's Red Square while in stilettos and traction & stability fragile at the margins.  That's of great significance when marching in formation because it works on the basis of "as strong as the weakest link in the chain" in that if one soldier in the line stumbles, it can trigger a chain reaction, disrupting the entire show.   

The Ukrainian minister for defense trying not to notice some stilettos.

The decision of the Ukraine's Ministry of Defense to train female soldiers to march in high heels attracted interest, much of it from Ukrainian politicians, little of it supportive, except for that expressed by female legislators.  Despite that, when in late June 2021 photographs emerged of women soldiers training in heels for a march scheduled for 24 August to mark the thirtieth anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union, an army spokesman reported the drilling to master the steps was "progressing well" although one soldier in an interview confirmed it was "...a little harder than in boots".  Social media soon went into action, one on-line petition demanding Ukraine's (male) defense minister don the not infrequently uncomfortable shoes to try marching in them and most critics (most volubly the female parliamentarians), accused the military of sexism and having a “medieval” mind-set.  The virtual protest was the next day brought into parliament when some of  his female colleagues arranged a line of high-heeled shoes before the defense minister and suggested he wear them to the anniversary parade, a joint statement from three cabinet ministers adding that the "...purpose of any military parade is to demonstrate the military ability of the army. There should be no room for stereotypes and sexism”.

Ukrianian female cadets practicing in heeled pumps.

The Defense Ministry initially declined to comment but did later issue as statement pointing out heels had been part of dress uniform regulations since 2017 and included pictures of female soldiers in the US military wearing heels during formal events and although they didn't mention it, Ukrainian soldiers regardless of gender all wear boots when deployed for combat or active training.  The great heel furor however didn't subside and the defense minister, after consultation with female military cadets, issued a joint statement with the military high command acknowledging the heels were inconvenient.  Later addressing a gathering of cadets, the minister pledged to look into the matter of “improved, ergonomic” footwear “in the shortest possible time”, although it wasn't made clear if the new shoes would be available for the August parade.  In another supportive gesture he also confirmed senior defense officials "would look into" improving the quality of women's underwear, this presumably in response to concerns raised by the cadets although the minister didn't go into detail of this, saying only that if the trial of the cadet's “experimental” footwear went well, they could be issued to all female members in the military.

Harder than it looks.

In recent years, women have played increasingly prominent roles in the Ukrainian military, especially in the ongoing conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv allowing women to serve in combat units after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.  Women now make up more than 15 percent of the country’s armed forces, a rate which has more than doubled since the conflict erupted and more than 13,000 women have been granted combatant status.  Some 57,000 women serve in the Ukrainian military and NATO standards are in the process of being introduced, membership of the alliance being described still as a "long term" goal.  Given Ukraine's long and often not untroubled relationship with both Russia and the Soviet Union, the lure of NATO is understandable but the Kremlin is opposed and there's now little enthusiasm in Western capitals.  The view from NATO HQ has for some time been that the relationship with Moscow will be easier to manage if a border which the Kremlin regards as hostile is not extended.

Pre-dating even the apparently abortive sartorial innovations of the Ukrainian Army, military camouflage has long attracted designers who like the juxtaposition of fashion and function (the fetching stiletto (bottom right) with the rakishly slanted heel is a Prada Camo Green Pump).  Although the purpose may not be overt, physics make the stiletto heel something of a weapon, even a 45 kg (100 lb) woman, at the point of the heel's impact, exerting a pressure 20 times that of the foot of a 2½ tonne (6000 lb) elephant.  Over the years, dance floors, the timber decks of cruise ships and many other surfaces have suffered damage.

Lindsay Lohan in Christian Louboutin Madame Butterfly black bow platform bootie with six-inch (150 mm) stiletto heel.

Vice Versa's convertible heel to flat.

Undeniably stiletto heels are attractive and, if worn by a skilled user, can lend a woman her most alluring posture but they can be uncomfortable, especially of worn for an extended duration, over long distances or on hard surfaces.  One solution (although it seems to unlikely to be adaptable to the most elevated of the breed) is a shoe with a "clamshell" design, a half-sole hinged from the instep, allowing the heel to use a folding mechanism so it can be transformed into a something like a ballet flat (ballet pump in some markets).  Greatly they will be valued by those who, after a long evening, have to walk a few blocks to find a taxi.