If anything, we’re reversing progress on this front, given we just had a UFC match on the front lawn of the White House.

“This smacks of misogyny!” I say as I cross out “sports where players regularly sustain CTE-causing injuries” and write “boys”

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/cte-concussion-wo...

I think it's more that the male-dominant sports are billion dollar industries driven by deep-seated cultures of masculinity that view safety as weakness, and spectatorship that wants to see violence. No one watches ballet wanting to hear the sound of the dancers' skulls colliding.

Do we?

Never heard of this ballet thing til now. Have heard plenty of rumblings about headers in youth soccer. For both boys and girls.

Male dancers and female athletes exist…

There is no 'we'. There are different values that value different things.

Slave values = sacrificing yourself is noble and good.

Aristocracy values = being born an aristocrat is noble and good.

Trader values = enriching oneself is noble and good.

Religious fundamentalist values = following the one and only book is good.

Little girl/consumer values = my emotions are good.

Etc.

Slave and religious values are being replaced by trader and little girl/consumer values.

Boys embody slave or trader values. Girls embody little girl/consumer values.

Boys go to war, girls are little princesses. Ballet/women's pro sports are a niche for the few women who embody slave values. Most embody little girl/consumer values.

Wait till you hear about an insane game called (US) football!

I can't watch ballet. I actually, not figuratively, cringe when they do en pointe. It's like watching somebody cut themselves or even be in situations where they might, like an amateur youtube cook chopping unsafely; just physically and psychologically too uncomfortable for me. I don't have a problem with blood or injuries, per se; watching a surgical operation is tolerable, as long as I believe it's not actually painful. Maybe if I forced myself to watch enough ballet I'd learn to accept it's not that painful during the performance (is it?), but it'd take more effort than I care to put into it. Something about discrete, focused pain just triggers me. I also have to look away when getting my blood drawn or given a shot, and don't want to watch others getting the needle, either.

Conversely, I think one of the reasons some people are mesmerized by en pointe is the idea of it being painful, in the moment or at least the training/practice, and the manifest dedication involved.

I don't recall NPR, but I do recall an interview with one of the US Olympic team doctors who has done extensive work on pointe and dance-related injuries.

see: https://selinashah.com/press/interviews/

Yep, that’s what happened to my wife… she started rhythmic gymnastic and ballet at 4 in Eastern Europe in the 90s with a brutal coach, had to stop at 12 for an injury, and she has been having chronic pain and arthritis since she was 17. Anything taken to the extreme can have lifelong consequences.

And on that topic, our cultures default to shoes that press your big toe in, creating bunions in everyone predisposed to bunions. Just because we think it's cute when a shoe is rounded.

You have to specifically look for shoes that don't do it.

(I recommend Whitins on Amazon. $35 shoes.)

I agree. The US Army already recognized this problem and developed the Munson last before WWI.

Some mid and high-end footwear brands produce boots with Munson or Munson-like lasts. It helps tremendously. I cannot go back to narrow toeboxes.

Oddly, lots of sports footwear suffers from the same issue and wide toeboxes are not as popular as they should be.

The problems that you listed don't affect a lot of people in a way that they themselves might find meaningful.

Moreover, leather is a widely available product and a byproduct of the meat industry.

From reading about the leather shoes are supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. And I think they actually do last much longer than modern shoes made from synthetic materials, which you can’t really care for. And they’re supposed to mold to your foot.

No shoes last longer than well fitting well made all leather shoes.

Well-made leather shoes have none of those drawbacks (besides polishing; nothing to do about that). When I was in high school my grandmother bought me a pair of (eye-wateringly expensive, partially hand-made) dress shoes. I can remember the style (dance-Oxford), but not the maker. I wore them for graduation, and then for another decade of restaurant and catering work. I regularly spent 10+ hours in a day in them, walking I don't know how far, and they were (with a soft-gel insole inside) as comfortable as a pair of sneakers - though indeed, not so good for running. I think I replaced the soles twice, before too much restaurant-damage on the uppers forced their retirement. More than 20 years after their demise, and I still miss them.

None of these things are true about the material. They're all true of poorly-made shoes.

Also that's a very broad category. "Leather shoes." That's like nearly every dress and athletic shoe that exists. IT's all traditional moccasins. IT's a lot of the best sandals, which certainly don't have any of the problems you've listed.