all about shoes

I had a weird little conversation with a group of women today. We were all waiting for our rides, and one woman said to another-- I like your shoes, are they brand X? Yes, they are, replied the woman. Everyone agreed they liked the brand because of the wider width of the footbed, and then everyone present complained about women's shoes being built for skinny feet and having too pointy toes -- even brands that you would think were made for rugged outdoor sort of use. And I was thinking about all of the terrible foot problems people endure as they get older - hammer toes, bunions, etc. It just seemed that yet again, we're suffering for beauty. Does it have to be this way, really? I know some people do have skinny feet and need those more narrow footbeds. But not as many as you'd think, to see the shoes available out there.