While the high heel has quite a long history, one revealing a piece of footwear that was not only made for practical purposes but also as such served as a common accessory for both men and women alike in their wardrobes, in more recent years, the shoe has become an impractical piece only meant for women in the eyes of society. The stiletto heel, as shown in Ken Moody, was crafted in 1955 by designer Roger Vivier while he was working for the multinational luxury goods company Dior, and seemed to serve as the final nail in the coffin of making the transition of the shoe from being a unisex item to instead solely just for women. Even now, the deceased French designer still has a shoe brand named after him, one separate from the Dior brand, showing just how influential his career was overall on the world of fashion. That a male designer created what has become a quintessential female footwear item prompts a deeper reflection on the fluidity of fashion and identity. When further examined, it reveals the various complexities in our current understanding of fashion and gender; that what may appear to be a gendered domain often defies those very boundaries.

“Timeline of High-Heeled Shoes.” Shoe History Facts, 2025, www.shoeshistoryfacts.com/history-of-footwear/high-heeled-shoes-timeline...nette

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by Sophia Girol

Ken Moody was by far the most photographed subject of Robert Mapplethorpe, only second to female American bodybuilder Lisa Lyon, who had an entire book dedicated to her. Despite his prominent and positive recognition in the world of art, Moody faced a variety of personal challenges, particularly with his health, as he was affected by alopecia universalis, alopecia areata’s most severe form. Lacking all body hair because of this, Moody was self-conscious about his appearance in some of Mapplethorpe’s photographs of him. Eventually, as time progressed, Moody learned to appreciate Mapplethorpe’s work for the artistic value it represented. Things changed for those dealing with various forms of alopecia areata rather significantly in 1981 with the founding of the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. This nonprofit organization was established to assist those who are suffering from alopecia areata and works diligently to find treatments and cures while offering help to those affected. They also focus on educating the greater public about the condition and raising awareness of the challenges those with hair loss regularly face. Through all of this, the foundation hopes to help improve the quality of life for those individuals who are challenged by alopecia in all of its many variations.

“About NAAF - National Alopecia Areata Foundation.” NAAF, 2025, www.naaf.org/about/

Stansfield, Ted. “Being Mapplethorpe’s Muse.” Another Man, 27 Oct. 2017, www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10019/being-robert-mapplethorpe-s-mus...ody-interview

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by Sophia Girol

While he dabbled with various muses and art mediums in his career, Robert Mapplethorpe is now most known for his black-and-white photographs, prominently those starring black men. In 1986, he showcased this style of imagery in a solo art exhibition, “Black Males,” which gained significant attention on its own, but was then also followed up by his release of a subsequent book titled The Black Book, further amplifying the discourse now surrounding his work. Both the exhibition and the publication ignited intense controversy and vigorous debate due to their perceived erotic depictions of black men, and were rendered even more provocative by the fact that Mapplethorpe himself identified as a gay white man. The themes of race and sexuality displayed became a point of vigorous discussion and led to many responses, some even artistic themselves, that grappled with the undertones of Mapplethorpe’s imagery. Notable works that emerged from this dialogue include Glenn Ligon’s Notes on the Margins of the Black Book and Essex Hemphill’s anthology Brother to Brother, both of which offer thoughtful responses to Mapplethorpe’s works on black men, exploring themes the of race, sexuality, and the multifaceted nature of personal and artistic identity that can be found within them.

“Robert Mapplethorpe.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Mar. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M…

The reason that I offered that background concerning those three events is because it helps me to explain what Ken Moody was doing socially and culturally when Robert Mapplethorpe created it. When first seeing my art piece, I conceptualized my potential future events based on the questions that immediately came to my mind about the work: Was Ken Moody the subject showcased? What drove Mapplethorpe to use Moody’s likeness and name for multiple photos? Why the high heel? Why not the high heel on a foot? Why in black-and-white when color had entered the world of photography?

Answering these questions for myself led me to understand what other potential viewers might wonder about when seeing the art. Educating myself on these matters guided me on what to focus on in terms of events, allowing me to gain further knowledge of the piece itself and the world as a whole at the time of its making but also gaining information into how to take action in the current world and going forward. Education does not truly matter if it is not applied towards the future.

Mapplethorpe asserts that his art was not intentionally meant to be sexual in nature, stating that he was inspired by a variety of films specifically for his line on black men. This may instead point out a characteristic in the viewer of seeing the subject matter in a sexual manner. When analyzing any form of media, it is essential to remember that there is not only the relationship between the medium and its artist but also other outside forces as well, such as the world around the piece and the ingrained opinions of oneself as the viewer.

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by Sophia Girol