Starting in spring, my feet go naked—wholly or in part: going barefoot in new grass, breaking out flip-flops, sandals, and open-toed shoes. Time to beautify! For me, that means polishing my toenails. For some, it also means toe rings. And although tattoos on feet and legs aren’t seasonal, they are much more exposed in spring fashions.

This spring I decided to blog about feet, only to discover that I’ve been there, done that! Five years ago. Although it’s framed for writers and their characters, feet can be just as telling for any reader when it comes to self, family, friends, coworkers… So read on. The pictures are great!

How much thought have you given to your characters’ feet? And shoes? Feet and shoes tend to go together, and both can be valuable as character details, plot devices, and sources of conflict. But let’s start with the basics. Are bare feet good or bad? Yes!

Health Concerns

The Upside of Bare Feet: 

• Uninhibited flexibility, greater strength, and mobility of the foot.
• Some research suggests that walking and running barefoot results in a more natural gait, allowing for a more rocking motion of the foot, eliminating hard heel strikes, generating less collision force in the foot and lower leg.
• Many sports require going barefoot: gymnastics, martial arts, beach volleyball, and tug of war.  Rugby in South Africa is always played barefoot at the primary school level. Other sports have barefoot versions: running, hiking, and water skiing.
• People who don’t wear shoes have a more natural toe position, not squished together.

The Downside of Bare Feet:

• Losing protection from cuts, abrasions, bruises, hard surfaces, and extremes of heat or cold.
• Constantly being barefoot increases likelihood of flat feet, bunions, and hammer toe.
• Because feet are so sensitive, toe locks and striking the bottoms of the feet are often used as punishment.

Climate and Weather:

• With no environmental need for shoes, Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, and various African nations have historically gone barefoot.
• Even when it isn’t necessary, people in such climates often wear ornamental footwear for special occasions.

General Symbolism

• Baring one’s feet shows humility and subjugation.
• Going barefoot symbolizes innocence, childhood, and freedom from constraints.
  • Isadora Duncan famously stunned the artistic world when she shed her rigid pointe shoes to dance barefoot in the early 20th century.
• Bare feet may be a sign of poverty.
  • The assumption of ignorance and poor hygiene often accompanies the poverty of bare feet.
• Forbidding shoes can mark the barefoot person as a slave or prisoner under the control of others.  Keeping prisoners barefoot is common in China, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, India, Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and North Korea.

• From Roman times on, footwear signaled wealth, power, and status in most of Europe and North Africa. Shoes that are impractical or inhibit movement often signal enhanced status, as they make it obvious the wearer has no need to engage in manual labor.
  • Italian chopines
  • Chinese “Golden Lotus” bound feet
  • Armored German sabatons
  • Polish crakows
  • Pretty much everything worn by Victoria Beckham

Cultural Aspects

Religion:

• Some religious sects take a vow of poverty, including obligatory bare feet.
• Many Buddhists go barefoot as a reminder to be concerned for Mother Nature, to lead people in the path of virtue, and to develop the Buddhist spirit.
• Roman Catholics show respect and humility before the Pope by kissing his feet. 
• In Judaism and some Christian denominations, it is customary to go barefoot while mourning.
• Anyone entering a mosque or a Hindu temple is expected to remove his or her shoes. Stealing shoes from such a place is often considered a desecration.
  • Hindus show love and respect to a guru by touching his bare feet. 
  • Lord Vishnu’s feet are believed to contain symbols such as a barley-corn and a half-moon.
• In many spiritual traditions, body and soul are connected by the soles of the feet.

Europe:

• Wearing shoes indoors is often considered rude or unhygienic in Austria, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium.
• In Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, wearing shoes indoors is expected.

Asian Countries:

• Showing the soles of the feet is seen as an insult because the feet are seen as unclean (“You are lower than the soles of my feet”).
• Shoes are seen as dirty and so are removed before entering a mosque, temple, or house.

China:

• Take your shoes off when entering a house.
• The practice of foot-binding began in the 10th century as a sign of wealth and beauty. It was outlawed by Empress Dowager Cixi in 1902 (though this was largely ignored) and successfully outlawed by Sun Yat-Sen in 1912.

Japan:

• Never cross your feet in Japan.
• Students take off their street shoes when entering school and wear uwabaki, soft-soled clean shoes, to the classroom. Street shoes are stored in special lockers by the school entrance.
• Most Japanese homes have a step or bench just inside the door where people stop to remove their shoes before entering the home.

Thailand:

• A prisoner must be barefoot in court during penal proceedings.
• Because the feet are the lowest part of the body, they are considered filthy.
  • Showing the soles of your feet is extremely rude, a big taboo at any time.
• Remove your shoes before entering a school, temple, or home.
• In some houses or schools, inside slippers (never worn outside) are allowed.

India:

• Shoes are considered impure, so it is customary to remove footwear when entering a home or a temple.
• Charanasparsha is a very common gesture of respect and subservience made by bowing and touching the feet of the (always superior in age and position) person being honored.

Australia:

• It’s common for people, particularly young people, to go barefoot in public.
• In some regions, students attend school barefoot.

New Zealand:

• Many people, of all races and cases, conduct daily business barefoot.
• Being barefoot is more common in rural areas and some seasons.

South Africa:

• Walking barefoot in public is common among all ethnic groups, in rural and urban areas.
• The National Guidelines on School Uniform lists shoes as an optional item.
• Barefoot people are common in public, shopping malls, stores, and events.

Canada:

• Take off shoes when entering a home.
• Elementary schools require students to have indoor shoes and provide a place to store outdoor footwear. Outdoor shoes are worn in high schools.
• Some medical facilities require patients to remove shoes for reasons of cleanliness.
• Office workers usually wear indoor shoes in winter, outdoor shoes in summer.
• Agricultural hygiene standards require workers to wear disposable shoe covers any time they are around farm animals, to avoid spreading any infections.

United Kingdom:

• Among children and teenagers, mostly in rural areas, being barefoot is socially accepted.
• Some schools encourage barefoot participation in indoor and outdoor physical education.
• The National Health Service encourages people to go barefoot or wear open-toed sandals in hot weather to avoid sweaty, smelly feet.

United States:

• Many children in rural areas, and/or those in poverty go barefoot.
• Very young children seldom wear shoes, partly because they are so difficult to keep on tiny feet.
• More commonly, people wear shoes both outdoors and indoors.
• Businesses that don’t prepare or serve food can determine dress codes that prohibit or allow bare feet.

Miscellaneous:

• Having a foot fetish or kink means being sexually aroused by feet or certain parts thereof, such as toes, arches, ankles, etc.

• Fairies and magical creatures in several cultures leave no footprints. Checking for footprints is a common method of identifying supernatural creatures and avoiding mischief.
• Before a baby learns to walk, stroking the bottom of their foot will cause their toes to curl up. After the baby learns to walk (and for the rest of their pedestrian life), stroking the bottom of their foot will cause their toes to curl down.
• Ancient Egyptians believed that stepping forward with the left foot trod out evil so the heart could proceed.
• The foot chakra is one of the most important, as it helps pass the Divine Energy to Mother Earth, providing a powerful source of grounding.

Bottom line for writers: What are your characters’ attitudes and behaviors regarding feet and shoes? And why?