Put on some heels...Be a woman

"Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn has traded in her downhill skis for high heels..." (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20364524,00.html).
In other words, Ms. Vonn has stepped, quite literally, into the shoes that define her not by her profession, but by her gender. Off of the trails she is the quintessential female - attending events in formal dresses and painful shoes.
And who could blame her?
She works hard and certainly deserves the rewards that she's now receiving. The problem lays not in her extracurricular activities, but in the fact that there is a double standard.
Sure different shoes, like most other attire, have a distinct place in society. There is a time and place to wear heels as opposed to flip flops. Just like wearing a wedding dress to pick up your morning coffee would be quite unacceptable, so too would flip flops in the board room.
But by putting on heels women are morphing themselves into what is expected - that after an afternoon run they can still slip into that little black dress and pumps and be feminine.
Women are not expected to wear multiple hats - it is still impressive when they can be an Olympic medalist and can clean up nice to walk the red carpet, when they can play multiple parts well.
But how often, if ever, are remarks made about a man's transition from work, to the gym, to the red carpet?
Why is it in this, the 21st century, in a country that is consistently referenced because of its stance on equality women are still expected to be less than men?
Its not the pumps themselves, or the Olympic medalist wearing them, its what they stand for - a differentiation of the sexes.
A repetitive mantra: You can be whatever else you want as long as you don't forget that you're first and foremost a woman.
ANM