What is astounding about the high heels protest, which erupted this week and has since swept the country, is the fact that the new directive requiring El Al Israel Airlines’ female flight attendants to wear high heels until boarding — instead of just wearing them on the way to the aircraft — was issued by a female manager. What is even more astounding is that this manager is retired Brig. Gen. Yehudit Grisaro, who serves as the carrier's vice president for customer service and was the military chief of staff’s adviser on women's affairs in 2006.
Grisaro is considered a trailblazer in the Israeli air force because she was the first woman to serve as commander of an administrative squadron at the Ramat David air force base. As the chief of staff’s adviser on women affairs she was known for leading the fight against sexual harassment in the military, making it a top priority. She also fought for equal rights for servicewomen in an entirely male-dominated Israel Defense Forces establishment.
Undoubtedly, these are remarkable personal achievements for a woman in the military. Judging by her resume, she appears to be a woman with a heightened sense of gender and social awareness. This is why it is so strange to see that it was Grisaro, of all people, who penned the directive that allegedly sounds anachronistic in terms of the struggle for gender equality. Furthermore, it also allegedly demonstrates a lack of awareness of workers’ struggles and rights in today’s labor market, particularly in the wake of social protests and the power of social media.
On the other hand, the shoes in question are orthopedic ones, with heels of about 5 centimeters (2 inches). Nevertheless, as far as the flight attendants are concerned, the new instructions reflect a worsening of working conditions. Following this directive, El Al’s female flight attendants launched a protest that has prompted many citizens to post selfies in flat shoes on social media platforms. The flight attendants argue that this is a draconian directive, because the boarding process involves as equally hard physical work as the in-flight service. According to them, switching from flats to high heels would make their work significantly harder, causing them also pain and even injury.
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