Bare feet may become more acceptable?

I'm sure this may be burried in the forum somewhere. But do you think due to the "reccession" (i say depression, though it's smallish) people may start going more places barefoot? Or maybe people will think less of it?

 

The thread you're referring to is right here.

Just in case you wish to review the old replies before posting in this thread.

Wiggling bare toes, not caring whether they're accepted more or less...

~*Ganesha*~

 

My feeling is that the opposite may occur. But before I say why, I think it would be fun to dive into the history of going barefoot in America since the depression of the 1930s...

During the American Great Depression kids went barefoot because of the abject poverty combined with the fact that Shoes in those days were very expensive items, were uncomfortable, and wore out quickly. Also, kids went barefoot a lot more regardless in those days so it was already acceptable. Any adult who couldn't keep their shoes, however, was thought to be in serious financial trouble.

By the 1960s and early 1970s, the stable and growing economy allowed fads, fashions, and other luxuries to blossom. Going barefoot among upper middle class suburban kids and young adults was considered a fashionable luxury- recognized as an expression of freedom and youthful beauty.

By the mid 1980s, these same communities saw a huge rise in the new immigrant population (from developing countries) and had also entered a period of gentrification. Shoes companies became mega corporations and flooded the media channels with advertising of sport sneakers aimed at young people. Bare feet became viewed as either a throwback to the hippie generation (by the incumbent community), or as a symbol of poverty and backwardness by the immigrant population (who were making a new start in America and thought wearing shoes showed they were good capitalists), and that is how bare feet became less popular in America.

Today, bare feet still carry no current popular identity. Kids grow up watching a television world full of shod people. Now with the recession, people, especially adults suffering from the effects of falling home prices and budget cuts, have become increasingly cautious about saving their money and defensive about their socioeconomic status. There is more fear of poverty. Therefore there is more fear of going barefoot. People are hunkering down, becoming protective against anything that may make them seem vulnerable.

It is also well known that poor people who feel self-conscious about their poverty, tend to wear shoes and dress up to make themselves appear less poor. So those hardest hit by the recession will probably keep their shoes on, albeit cheap shoes.

However, there are still small pockets of enlightenment left in this country- in small progressive towns, liberal arts school villages, intentional farming communities, etc. where one can drop their defenses. These are places where going barefoot is still recognized as a symbol of freedom and health, and where it has no connotation of rich or poor.

If you have the means to do so, choose to live in one of these places. There you will find barefoot acceptance and hopefully some peace and mutual understanding too.

 

It is a good question. I had started thinking I should practice freight train jumping and imagined myself barefoot picking fruit in Florida......

 

Hi sweet_dream, I think your analysis is correct -- I am sorry to agree
Poor people will prefer to be invisibly hungry rather than to visibly dispense with shoes......

If one can afford to live at such places, this is indeed a sign of true prosperity! Southern Bavaria, one of the most expensive regions in Germany, allows for freedom and health and is barefoot-friendly, and I am really glad to live there.



In another thread, I just tried to redefine barefoot lifestyle as a privilege of wealthy people, who can e.g. afford vacations in exclusive Caribbean or Maldive resorts or live in a luxurious clean environment. Thus I try to convert the historical thinking about poor barefooters to the hopefully trendsetting perception of rich people enjoying barefoot vacations, sports, spa and wellbeing.

I tried to point this out on my homepage in a chapter about barefoot prosperity. We should keep on associating bare feet with prosperity!!!



Feel good and live unshod,

Lorenz

 

try and ask someone who lost his job as a consequence of this recession. but don't forget to run immediately after, lol

 

The recession will have no impact. Shoes are not a major expense if you buy the cheap ones, and they are perceived as a necessity by almost everyone. Stores will have no reason to change their restrictive policies.

 

During the past two months, I have seen 2 articles in major newspapers that viewed bare feet in a positive light. The articles told about the growing popularity of barefoot running and how going barefoot has many positive health benefits. Maybe, barefooting will catch on this year.

 

I don't know. Time will tell. I think many stores will be happy to have customers willing to spend whether they're wearing shoes or not. I agree with you however that I don't see the recession as creating a major, formal long-term change in store policies, practices, or attitudes. I think the managers may just choose to turn a blind eye to those who are barefoot during the recession and then reimpose their restrictions once the economy recovers.

 

Bare feet are becoming more accepted in some places but less accepted in others. For example, I live in PA. When I was a youngin' you would see the NSNSNS sign all over the place, but now very few places around here post such a sign and I am rarely bothered for not having shoes.

In contrast, in places like Ocean City, MD you would see more barefoot people shopping and dining than you could count. No place would ever think of turning away a barefooter if they wanted to stay in business. But over time as ownership of places changed, so did the climate. Now you can count the barefooters in OCMD on one hand and you actually see signs and places with bouncers who enforce a shoe policy. Also, the South in general used to be known for bare feet. The preverbial "barefoot country bumpkin" is a thing of the past and I hear that hippies living down South are getting much grief for not wearing shoes.

 

I don't think the numbers are large enough to make a difference. We shall see.

 

The positive articles on barefoot running will get more folks thinking and may work to the barefooters advantage. Several articles have come out recently showing the harm shoes do to joints and how shoes effect natural gait.

 

Yes, I was glad to see positive barefooting articles in major newspapers. I have even noticed that a barefoot running group formed up in NYC. If all these people begin running barefoot for their daily jog, they may stop in a coffee shop or some other place of business along the way and maybe it will be more common to see barefoot patrons.

 

These articles also appeared in renowned German newpapers
We should not expect that the economic crisis promotes barefoot lifestyle -- we only can rely on our own activities to make available good stories to journalists! In Germany this worked very well with a lot of barefoot trail and barefoot hiking matter: hundreds of positive articles appeared during the last decade. That's why I thought it worth while to translate part of my German website. I hope that others also will contribute to an up-to-date information basis on barefoot lifestyle in the Web! Thil will help the press to write good articles

Feel good, live unshod,

Lorenz

 

This is great!