Can Anyone Explain "foot Shyness"

I was running about the woods barefoot when some natural gas people men caught me. They said to me "are you not afraid of getting your feet cut up?" and I said "you are the ones that are afraid, wearing boots like ya do" and went about my business.

 

Foot shyness is more common than I ever thought, and to think I was all alone with these feelings.. It's interesting that there is very little information about it on the internet otherwise.

 

I had pretty extreme foot shyness when I was younger and it is still something that I can't explain very well. I just saw feet as gross. There was no rational reason for it but looking at other people's bare feet would almost make me feel sick. I just assumed that everyone else felt the same way so the thought of baring my own feet was terrifying.

I still don't find other people's feet very attractive, but I have managed to get over my foot shyness.

 

Foot shyness can be described as one or more of:

• "I don't like the look of my feet"; however, this means they hide their feet even to the point of wearing socks at home if others except for their family will see their feet. More common if they have squished toes or bunions caused by very frequent wearing of improperly fitting shoes. On the other hand, there are some foot selfies out there with where they are in the background where they are too confident about their shoe-affected feet.
• "I lack the confidence to go barefoot in public": just have to keep doing it. Expect comments from customers or store staff, expect to be reported even by other customers, expect to be asked to put on shoes to enter either by a stricter greeter, management, or a hired security guard... or be asked to leave. (However, I have found proper polite negotiation when confronted during shopping allows finishing up shopping, when it is genuinely being finished and not being just extended, without outright being asked to leave.) Being a frequent customer does command respect—don't go there 5 different times and make them have to deal with barefoot each and every time because as a business can ask not to return.
• "I don't want others to see I'm barefoot around town": understandable about family, friends, or coworkers. Family can actually be the most difficult, while friends and coworkers are easier to start off with "I didn't want to wear shoes today" and then later "I've stopped wanting to wear shoes". Alternatively, take the opportunity to shop out of town as barefoot exploration if the distance isn't too far.
• "They won't let me even when I am confident": keep track of those that don't but don't let that affect those that do. For example, a Walmart with a greeter might outright deny entry without shoes, while a Walmart without a greeter is no obvious problem just to enter the store, so don't interpret that to mean ALL Walmarts will be a problem. Sometimes public transit systems require shoes and transit security WILL write citations for not having shoes if they don't ask the passenger to exit at the next stop, so at least bring the shoes along until asked to wear them on demand.
• Foot "damage" such as dirty soles, cuts, burned soles (redness), calluses (harder white spots) can also contribute to foot shyness. Just deal with it as normal. Dirt washes away (but not always the same day if it's baked in asphalt dirt). Cuts heal quickly enough unless they are large scarring laceration cuts (but otherwise don't even need a band-aid after the second day of healing the cut), redness from burned soles is just appearance (no one has ever commented to me that wow my feet were burned when I only had redness), calluses showing as whiter when the soles are dirtier can either be proudly kept for a tougher sole look while some others pedicure them. I honestly don't care unless any blisters peeled away and left a very shallow healing hole that can last for weeks—one of them lasted for two months but had no other detrimental effect on the sole.

My foot shyness is limited to family being judgemental about going barefoot and then only coworkers that might be in a mangerial or supervisor role that I currently work with. Problem solved if I have the opportunity to shop out of town that isn't an hour or more away.

As for the issue of being caught looking at female feet, that itself isn't illegal unless they are underage, but just move on as being caught and be done. Many are quite comfortable with staring at breasts or butts, but somehow feet are either disgusting (they are foot shy about someone seeing them and yet the wore sandals or flip flops) or else not to be looked anyway at no matter how well they are dressed up (foot jewelry, very thin sandal straps, newly polished toenails). I got caught once just for a quick glance down at a barefoot woman's feet and just kept walking as the guy just behind her turned out to be her boyfriend and said "hey, that's my girl". Don't ever continue to stare at the feet or they will be creeped out (and camera phones can photograph and video even if they don't call the police or one of their friends). I suppose a positive comment and they stop to talk might be an obvious exception. But it's not just male looking at female feet that is a fetish: I was at a horse racing event last week and a woman specifically took a long almost one and a half second look down at my feet even when I was wearing flip flops. Something about the tops of my feet, either the flip flops or my toes, made her decide to look at my feet. I was not creeped out but it was too crowded to say anything even positive. Just to be complete, but it is controversial, I'll also state that in spite of diversity I am creeped out by a male staring at my feet. I'll just walk away and not say anything, unless it is clear enough that I am being followed.

 

It is the confusion of who you are with what you are.
We know each other because the breath goes in and out of the body
We know we are different because our bodies don't appear the same
We cannot be one person and a different person

If I speak with you hear we could develop a friendship

After a while if I saw you,on the street I wouldn't recognize you at all.

You are beauty full

 

The only times I have foot shyness these days in hot summer when barefoot is much more common is around family (way too judgemental) or with blistered soles (normal for extended blacktop and extra hot sidewalk in 100 degrees F afternoon peak heat weather).

For the family issue, I just get tired of hearing about being barefoot when driving or going into a place of business and their being uncomfortable with it. If it makes them happy, I suppose I'll wear flip flops (but NOT closed shoes) when driving and going into places of business.

For blistered soles, well I obviously won't go into a business with soles in that condition but even if I get looks, I don't care to give attention to any comments. Yes, I know it's hot today but I am still able to do a shorter walk, and yes I know it was too hot the day before.

 

I have a couple barefoot shyness stories. My first is ive always been bare feet shy. but one day my girlfriend was coming over to my house and I didn't kno what to wear. she rung the door bell and i had to rush something on. so i just said fuck it and threw on jeans and a t shirt. everything was good. it was the moment that my sweaty dusty bare feet hit the hard wood of the house. it was too late now she had saw me in the doorway. i played it off like nothing and welcomed her in. she looked down at my feet for a half of a second and then we just started talking. as i walked around the house I enjoyed the special connection i had to the world when i was barefoot. I thought she would be like "get your dirty stinky feet out of here!" but i think she lowkey love my barefeet like she would always accidentally step on them and whenever we just sat and talked and i crossed my legs so you could see and touch the sole of my foot she would always tickle my feet. also whenever we both kicked our feet up she would always touch her feet to mine. this is when i got over my barefoot shyness. everytime she cameover to my house i made sure to have the same outfit: t shirt jeans and barefeet. I also one time ran errands barefoot and went a whole week of college barefoot!

 

LOL. I wonder if everyone, including us, are paying way too much attention to what others are or aren't wearing on their feet. Seriously. I pay about as much attention to what a friend is wearing on his or her feet as I do to what color shirt they're wearing. I'm personally more comfortable being barefoot most of the time. If someone else is more comfortable wearing socks or shoes, then whatever. I don't go barefoot to make a political statement, I do it because its comfortable. I have no vetted interest in whether anyone else wears shoes, socks, both or neither. It seems weird to me that you even notice if you've ever seen one of your friends barefoot before or not... Why does it even matter?

 

I was foot shy as a kid...I think because my toes are a bit crooked. I, too even wore socks to bed...which made no sense. I remember one time playing tackle football while wearing work boots, and the other kids requesting that I take the boots off and go barefoot because of the injury risk they posed. I refused. If I was in a football game these days (touch, thank-you!) I couldn't imaging wearing shoes...let alone boots.

I don't know what broke me out of it. Just one day, I realized how good it felt to go barefoot...and never looked back.

 

^ I feel like football is one time that you probably are better off wearing shoes. You're going to slip and fall harder than any tackle trying to quickly switch directions barefoot.

 

The last time I played football, it was competitive flag and everyone wore cleats. But it's a lot funner barefoot!