barefoot

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Walking barefoot

Going barefoot (also barefooted) means for a person not to use, or to go without, any type of foot covering. It is traditional to go barefoot in many developing countries, but less common in industrialized countries due to greater societal taboos, fashions, or peer pressure against going barefoot. A barefooter is someone who prefers to go barefoot occasionally, often, or at all times. Calling oneself a barefooter implies that being barefoot is a voluntary choice (as opposed to, for example, not being able to afford shoes), or whenever use of footwear is decided to be unnecessary. Reasons for choosing to go barefoot include the sensation of one’s feet in direct contact with the ground, and to confirm many perceived spiritual or natural health benefits one may experience.

Religious and cultural aspects

Acts of devotion

Many religious traditions consider removing shoes as a pious gesture of humility, especially appropriate when approaching holy places.

• In Exodus, Moses had to take off his shoes before approaching the burning bush^[1]
• Muslims are usually unshod for prayer (commonly on a prayer mat) or to attend services in a mosque, though socks are permissible.^{[citation needed]}
• Some Christian churches practice barefoot pilgrimage traditions—an example being the ascent of Croagh Patrick in Ireland.
• In the Hindu and Buddhist religions, shoes are removed before entering temples^{[citation needed]}.
• A Jain monk or nun wanders bare-foot from place to place (except for the four months of the rainy season), said to help him or her avoid killing insects and small animals.
• Among many neopagan reconstructionists, bare feet are considered an ideal way to remain in touch with the elements^{[citation needed]}.
• In Maori culture, shoes must be taken off before entering marae as a sign of respect.

Going barefoot is also a common form of mortification, often combined with others such as pilgrimage, either as penance or asceticism. Roman Catholic religious orders that permanently restrict the ability of members to wear footwear are known as "discalced", though in reference to certain religious orders the term means wearing only sandals on the feet. Barefoot orders include the barefoot Carmelites or Camaldolese and the Teresian.^{[citation needed]} Many Pagans, Neopagans, and Native Americans go barefoot so as to feel connected to Mother Earth.

Regional traditions

It is more common to go barefoot in developing countries, but less common in industrialized countries due to greater availability of footwear and societal taboos against going barefoot.

In many cultures it is considered inappropriate, even rude, to wear shoes indoors. It may be acceptable to wear shoes in public places (e.g. museums or libraries), but people are usually expected to go barefoot, or wear socks, inside dwellings. This is usually true for countries where inclement weather is frequent, such as Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Norway, or Canada, and serves the purpose of minimizing the amount of dirt and mud brought in from the outside. The ceremony or ordeal of firewalking entails walking barefooted through fire, over a bed of embers, or over hot stones.

Sign of poverty or mourning

The tradition of bare feet denoting status dates to Roman times, when it was traditional for prosperous Roman citizens to wear elaborate clothing, including footwear, while slaves and lower-class citizens went barefoot. In Medieval times, leather shoes and boots were expensive, so poorer people often either went barefoot or wrapped their feet in cloth. In art and literature, bare feet often symbolize poverty. In Jewish tradition, shoes are not worn by mourners during the ritual Shiva mourning period. Just as "sack cloth and ashes" or even full nudity, it was also a sign of mourning in Antiquity.

Fashionably dressed young women near Glasgow, 1859, from Louis Énault, Angleterre, Écosse, Irlande: Voyage Pittoresque

Symbol of innocence

Bare feet also denote innocence in American literary tradition, commonly seen in work from the 18th and 19th centuries and epitomized in John Greenleaf Whittier's opening line "Barefoot boy with cheeks of tan".^[2] Going barefoot was a standard part of childhood play, especially in rural areas, as was shown in the season 2 opening of The Waltons, (which was set in Virginia during the Great Depression in the show's early seasons) where a young Kami Cotler as Elizabeth Walton is shown in the very last scene barefoot.

It features prominently in the novels of Mark Twain. Barefoot children and young women are also common in the paintings and sketches of Norman Rockwell, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and the artists affiliated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Symbol of peace

One way to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi is to walk barefoot around his monument. Even Pope John Paul II and George W. Bush paid him this honor, as shoes are banned within Gandhi's memorial site, Raj Ghat.

Myths and urban legends

Throughout the years, a number of myths have been perpetuated about various regulations against bare feet. In the United States, many of these myths were perpetuated during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, as a way to keep hippies out of conventional business establishments.^[3] This led to a belief by many in various nonexistent OSHA or local health department regulations preventing people from going to stores, restaurants, and other establishments without shoes (or a shirt, hence the common "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" signs that are commonly posted in businesses). However, these regulations refer specifically to employees, not customers.^[4] There are also no state health codes that ban customers from going barefoot in establishments, as is demonstrated by a project undertaken by The Society for Barefoot Living in 1997, and again in 2002.^[5] Individual businesses, however, are free to refuse service to customers without footwear or clothing that they deem appropriate, and individual cities and towns may also require certain footwear in public places.

Another common myth is that it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while barefoot. Some people speculate that, because you use your feet while driving, there's more room for error and your feet could slip off of the pedals, resulting in an accident.^[6] In fact, in all 50 states and territories in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, it is perfectly legal to drive barefoot.^[6][7][8] However, in some jurisdictions, police officers may ticket you for other things if the fact that you were driving barefoot or in flip flops hindered your driving and/or resulted in an accident.^[9]

Health issues

Risks

Consistent practice, caution, and instinctive awareness are essential to safely going barefoot. Foot problems that can result from walking barefoot include cuts, abrasions, bruises, puncture wounds from foreign objects. They can also make you more vulnerable to skin issues or nail injuries.^[10] Poisonous plants, animals, or parasites can enter the body through the cuts on an injured bare foot – footwear can be valuable in protecting them.^[11] Hookworm larve, for instance, can easily burrow through a bare human foot^[12] (but in temperate regions the chance of encountering hookworm is extremely low)^[13]. In addition, individuals with diabetes or other conditions which affect sensation within the feet are at greater risk of injury while barefoot, so they must compensate safety with greater awareness of the ground's environment.^[10]

Benefits

A 2006 study found that shoes may increase stresses on the knee and ankle, and suggested that adults with osteoarthritis may benefit from walking barefoot,^[14] though more study is required to elucidate the factors that distribute loads in shod and barefoot walking. A 1992 correlational study also found that children who wore shoes were three times more likely to have flat feet than those who did not, and suggested that wearing shoes in early childhood can be detrimental to the longitudinal arch of the foot.^[15] A 1991 review article found that barefoot walking supported optimum foot development, and the best use of shoes are to protect the foot from injury rather than for correction of problems.^[11] Other doctors believe shoes have use in correcting mild deformities such as flat feet.^[16]

See also

• Barefoot and pregnant
• Barefoot doctor
• Barefoot park
• Barefoot running
• Social aspects of clothing
• Barefoot skiing

References

Further reading

• French language: B.F., Tongs au volant : gare ! in La Dernière Heure, August 6, 2003
• The Barefoot Hiker by Richard Frazine. ISBN 0-89815-525-8

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: barefoot

Look up barefoot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Society for Barefoot Living
• Living Barefoot Information website & Community on the topic of Living Barefoot and alternatives
• Footloose and Boot Free: Barefoot Hiking (The New York Times, September 22, 2006)
• You Walk Wrong New York Magazine
• Take Off Your Shoes and Walk A podiatrist reveals the problems caused by shoes