Ukraine’s defense minister has come under pressure from members of the government over the decision of an important military parade to wear female cadets in heeled shoes, the Associated Press reported.
“The purpose of every military parade is to demonstrate the military capability of the army. There should be no room for stereotypes and sexism here,” stressed in a joint statement three ladies ministers – Julia Laputina (on veterans), Marina Lazebna (on social policy). ) and Olga Stefanishina, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
Their declaration was prompted by the official information that appeared on the parade on August 24 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, women servicemen will wear heels.
The ministers note that 57,000 women serve in the Ukrainian armed forces, who have proven their qualities “not on heels, but with a machine gun” in hand. They demanded that the defense minister immediately replace the heeled shoes provided for the parade with comfortable shoes suitable for the military. The statement noted that low-heeled shoes are indeed used in some NATO member states as part of the parade uniforms of women servicemen, but not for marching parades, Interfax Ukraine reported.
Photos from the parade rehearsals, in which the Ukrainians are wearing black chrome leather heeled shoes, provoked angry reactions. A group of MPs demanded that the minister officially apologize, the BBC reported.
Minister Andriy Taran said today that he had ordered an examination of the possibility of buying “experimental models” of shoes for the participants in the anniversary parade.
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