content: Riding shoes had high heels to help them stay on stirrups Both men and women wore high heels to literally get out of the shit covering the streets Later, high heels were worn, mostly by men, to signify status (as it was impractical to wear high heels, you must be wealthy to wear them)  Then, when the enlightenment movement swept Europe, logic and science became more important than vanity and superficiality (which became associated with females). As in: wearing high heels is not practical, but it is elegant, and sacrificing practicality for superficial reasons is a feminine trait.