Why are people shy to go barefoot in public?

Being barefoot is awesome... I just don't wanna step on glass. Plus if i'm outside for a long period of time, it's usually because I'm skateboarding. Looks like I'm doomed to a life of shoe-wearing!

 

LOL!

I've known people like that too. It makes no sense.

In some people, I think there is a pathological fear of their feet actually touching the ground. It's like, it their foot skin were to come into direct contact with the ground for even a moment, they'd die.

Again, it makes no sense...

 

I got a kick out of these comments. Yeah, I've often wondered why some people can get uptight when that little sliver of rubber or leather isn't present. I've gotta confess though, if someone's wearing flip-flops, I'm oblivious. On the other hand, if someone's barefoot, I notice.

I'm proud not to have flip-flop tan lines!!

 

Flip-flops are okay in the sense that they are the easiest shoes to remove. A lot of people actually do wear them only because they are "supposed" to have shoes on in certain circumstances, and will remove them as soon they know it's okay. I have seen this phenomenon a number of times.

But I still believe what this post on my favorite web site has to say on the subject of flip-flops:

http://www.realbarefootgirls.com/flip-flops.html

 

I wear flip flops because it's the closest I can get to being barefoot when I'm going somewhere where I know I'll be bitched out for not wearing shoes. But if I'm somewhere people don't care I slip them off. I am proud to have tanlines rather than totally pale feet. lol

 

Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about.

Although, I might suggest that you're wearing the flips-flops a bit more than you need to. True barefooters wouldn't have tan lines.

 

lol maybe so. i just hate dealing with annoying people complaining so i havent been barefooting as much

 

I find you have to carry yourself with an air of confidence when barefoot. People will pick up on it and read into your attitude and take it to be a normal (albeit uncommon) thing to do. If you're nervous and apologetic about it you invite the challenge.

When I'm out barefoot and run into people I know who haven't seen me barefoot before (i.e. new friends whom I last met in a situation where I had to wear shoes, or people I'd not seen for a very long time), because I'm so matter-of-fact about it their reaction is very curious but not at all challenging. So I get all the questions of course, but I don't find myself having to defend my position - rather just having to explain what it's like to other people who wouldn't do it themselves but still find it fascinating and interesting.

People tend to be interested most now, not in the fact that I'm going barefoot everywhere, but in the fact that I don't seem to let it bother me. There are always a few exceptions of course but they're in the minority.

 

It seems here in the Netherlands most people are convinced it's either cold, it'll hurt (usually it's discomfort from rocks they mention more than a fear of serious injury from glass), or both. Of course, even when I do tell them that the ground really isn't always that cold (at least, when they ask me in summer, LOL) and that your feet toughen up pretty quickly when going barefoot, they still rarely if ever try it out... either they say they don't want to go through that adjustment period or they say 'but people will look!!!' People are pretty tolerant here in the Netherlands, they don't mind *others* going barefoot as much as many people in the US do, but that doesn't mean they want(dare?) to stand out themselves.

 

The best way for me to be "not shy" about public barefooting is...to keep on barefooting in public! The more I go barefoot on a daily basis, the less unusual (for me) it becomes...and obviously if it's not unusual for me, everybody else in the whole wide world will get used to it!
OK, maybe that's a tad egocentric.....

 

Well, it's pretty much the way things work. Especially in the U.S., where everyone is just mindless sheep. Here in the States, people do what everyone else does. If more people went barefoot, more people would go barefoot.

You know what I mean.

 

I think you would find that the same people who are shy about barefooting in public are also shy about doing anything in public that makes them stand out. For example, they wouldn't be likely to spike their hair and dye it blue or carry a protest sign. So, the question could be restated, "Why are some people not shy to go barefoot in public?"

Having been on both sides, I'd say there are several possibilities. Some people have a personality that makes them impervious to concerns about how others perceive them. Some people find themselves in situations that change their sense of what they can do. And, some people fight down their natural reluctance to do something and do it anyway.

Since I don't fall into the first category, I'd have to say I've fallen into the other two categories on several issues. On the one hand, living in a country where I stuck out like a sore thumb changed my sense of what I can do by making me able to ignore the stares of other people. They were going to stare whether I was shy or not, so there was no sense in being shy. On the other hand, I've learned intentionally to confront my own fears when I can't find a reason to support them. Some fears are healthy and keep you alive; others just hold you back.

So, if you have friends who says they're too shy to go barefoot in public and you want to encourage them to try, find ways to allow them the pleasures of the experience in situations that are least likely to cause them discomfort. Eventually, they may come around to your way of thinking. (But, don't be surprised by setbacks.)

People can change. When I was in junior high school, I never took my shoes off in public and never took my socks off except to bathe. I don't recommend it. Yesterday, I walked around a crowded mall in shorts and a T-shirt, and I saw no other barefooters. I highly recommend it! It'd be fun to see more fellow soles, but I enjoyed it.

 

It's a process. If you WANT to go barefoot (as I do), then you have to oppose your inner demons (and a few external ones) and plain do it and get used to doing it. Being barefoot for days at a time (indoors, outdoors) has absolutely renewed my interest in the world---I can FEEL it as one way of knowing it, and it has greatly contributed to my sense of self.

 

I'm shy because I have incredibly tiny toes.

 

As an ex-biker, i've never had a problem with shyness...