In another crushing blow to the patriarchy, female sailors have finally received the green light to free their feet from the man-made shackles that are high heels and don flats with their service and dress uniforms.

Female sailors can now wear "smooth or synthetic leather flat shoes" if they so desire, Chief of Naval Personnel spokesman Lt. Rick Moore told Task & Purpose.

Previously, the only two options for female sailors were dress pumps or Oxford-style "service shoes."

The change came about "as a result of fleet feedback," Moore said. Translation: female sailors put their (possibly sore) feet down.

Did the question of the flats' lethality come up in this discussion? I don't know, but this is the Pentagon we're talking about — I imagine lethality is considered in almost every decision (though as I told my Task & Purpose colleagues, I have several pairs of heels that I would consider quite lethal).

So, ladies, rejoice — you can still wear pumps if you want (though remember, no higher than 2-5/8 inches and no lower than 5/8 inches), but now you have the option of something a little more comfortable to, you know, kick butt in.

This article by Haley Britzky originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter. This article first appeared in 2019.

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