An associate English professor at Washington University, St. Louis, Mackie explores shoes as an object of neurosis utilizing theories of fetishism focusing on the magical-religious fetish rather than the psychoanalytic-sexual. Using the story of Karen from Hans Christian Anderson’s The Red Shoes, she discusses the role of pointe shoes as objects, which exalt the body of the dancer while requiring its deterioration in terms of scarring, weight management, and pain. Makie’s exploration will allow me to address the more insubstantial notions that arise from an analysis of pointe shoes, such as fetishism and idealization.