Darien’s Manliest — Cops, Firefighters — to Parade in Red High Heels

Yes, you read that headline right: They’ve agreed to walk in high heels — red ones — perhaps a mile up and down the Post Road.

The uniformed forces of Darien’s male-dominated fire and police departments (together with Darien EMS-Post 53) will be donning red women’s high heels (OK, in some cases red sneakers for those too chicken concerned about foot damage) on Saturday, Oct. 3.

The “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event is being organized by the Darien Domestic Violence Partnership as a way to grab the public’s attention and inform people about domestic violence.

Real Men Wear High Heels: “U.S. Soldiers with Multinational Battle Group East participate in a mile-long walk wearing women’s footwear at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, April 27, 2013. Organizers planned the event to raise awareness about sexual assault and its effects on victims for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.” U.S. government photo posted on Wikimedia Commons

In the past, the group has sponsored butterfly release events, but for this year it’s turning to the walk (which has been done elsewhere in recent years).

The event will start this year just with first responder departments in town, said Rita Bailey, who presented the proposal to the Board of Selectmen on Monday night. “Hopefully, next year we can grow it,” she said.

The board unanimously approved the event permit.

The march is expected to start at the Noroton Fire Department field at the corner of Nearwater Lane and the Post Road (on or near the spot where Darien patriots were killed by Tory raiders during the American Revolution).

Men in high heels will walk down the Post Road to the Darien Police Department, then back to the field, where food will be served by a caterer. Cars will still be able to use the Post Road as the marchers march (although if car accidents result as drivers crane their necks to gawk, all bets are off).

“We’ll have a presentation discussing the seriousness of the issue,” Bailey told the board.

With a large number of them doing it, as expected, it will be difficult to blackmail any of them with photos (but if the guys wear lipstick and wigs, perhaps dresses and panty hose, well, it could be the basis of someone else’s retirement plan, or at least a very memorable picture).