Although high heels are now usually

Although high heels are now usually worn only by girls and women, there are shoe designs worn by both genders that have elevated heels, including cowboy boots and Cuban heels. In previous ages, men also wore high heels.
In the ninth century, Persian horseback warriors actually wore an extended heel made up for keeping feet from sliding out of stirrups. This also kept riders still when they needed to stand up and shoot arrows.