A participant holds a sign. (Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron / September 12, 2009) |
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Andrew Rauch walked a mile wearing women's boots Saturday and couldn't wait to yank them off. "They were hurting as soon as I put them on," he said, pulling off a pair of leather boots with 4-inch heels that he had borrowed from a friend. "They were two sizes too small," he said. But as he sat on the ground rubbing his aching feet, Rauch said the walk on the female side of life "was worth it."
Rauch, a junior at McDaniel College, was one of an estimated 250 pedestrians, most of them men, who wobbled a mile wearing women's shoes to raise money for the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County.
Called Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the event is a lighthearted way to draw attention to a serious problem, said Janet A. Kispert, head of the rape crisis center in Westminster. Since 2001, when California therapist Frank Baird held the first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser, some 160 similar walks have taken place across the nation.
The number of reported rapes in Maryland dropped slightly, from 1,179 in 2007 to 1,127 in 2008, according to state police statistics. But Kispert said that during the past three years, the number of Carroll County women seeking help from her nonprofit agency has steadily risen. "The demand for our services keeps going up," she said.
Despite a soaking rain, the crowd assembled in Westminster's Dutterer Family Park was spirited. Groups of men who had garnered pledges of support took three laps around the park. Some women accompanied them, to offer support and to keep the men from stumbling.
Amy Padilla walked with her husband, Reinaldo, as he circled the course. He wore 4-inch purple suede pumps. She wore flats.
James Fletcher said his walk led him to this observation about traversing the Earth in high heels: "The more you walk, the more you become numb, the less pain you feel."
Michael N. Webster, director of campus security at McDaniel College, reported that his adventure in high heels was "not as bad as my wife said it was going to be." He acknowledged that heeding the advice of his wife, Lori, he had put bandages on his toes as a preventive measure.
His daughter Emma, 14, was disappointed in her father's selection of footwear.
"My sister and I wanted him to get something red and sexy," she said. Instead, she said, he picked shoes that were disappointingly "conservative and black."
Rauch, a junior at McDaniel College, was one of an estimated 250 pedestrians, most of them men, who wobbled a mile wearing women's shoes to raise money for the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County.
Called Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the event is a lighthearted way to draw attention to a serious problem, said Janet A. Kispert, head of the rape crisis center in Westminster. Since 2001, when California therapist Frank Baird held the first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser, some 160 similar walks have taken place across the nation.
The number of reported rapes in Maryland dropped slightly, from 1,179 in 2007 to 1,127 in 2008, according to state police statistics. But Kispert said that during the past three years, the number of Carroll County women seeking help from her nonprofit agency has steadily risen. "The demand for our services keeps going up," she said.
Despite a soaking rain, the crowd assembled in Westminster's Dutterer Family Park was spirited. Groups of men who had garnered pledges of support took three laps around the park. Some women accompanied them, to offer support and to keep the men from stumbling.
Amy Padilla walked with her husband, Reinaldo, as he circled the course. He wore 4-inch purple suede pumps. She wore flats.
James Fletcher said his walk led him to this observation about traversing the Earth in high heels: "The more you walk, the more you become numb, the less pain you feel."
Michael N. Webster, director of campus security at McDaniel College, reported that his adventure in high heels was "not as bad as my wife said it was going to be." He acknowledged that heeding the advice of his wife, Lori, he had put bandages on his toes as a preventive measure.
His daughter Emma, 14, was disappointed in her father's selection of footwear.
"My sister and I wanted him to get something red and sexy," she said. Instead, she said, he picked shoes that were disappointingly "conservative and black."
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