“This is for the man who asked me why I wear heels if I’m already so tall.”
So begins Imani Cezanne's spoken word poem "Heels," where she fiercely breaks down the stigma against tall women who wear high heels. Performed at the Ill List Slam Poetry Invitational in Dec. 2014, Cezanne responds to the men in her past who have felt threatened by her height and size, and reminds us all why a tall woman wearing heels is a force to be reckoned with.
“I wear heels because I’m grown. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. No questions, comments or concerns," Cezanne says. "But if you must know I wear heels became I'm fly."
Cezanne tells the crowd that the people who told men they must be taller than women are the same people who told her that big girls can't be pretty. "You think people won’t notice you?" she says to all the men who have questioned her heel height. "You should shine brighter. You should get more special. You should love yourself enough to not let a woman in heels emasculate you.”
Tall women in heels should never be used as a scapegoat for men who feel inadequate. Cezanne and other tall ladies sit among figures like the Amazonian Wonder Woman and Eleanor Roosevelt.
And yes, girl, you are fly as f*ck.