Why do we have to wear shoes?

Question

I hate them, they hurt my feet.. It's not like going withour clothes, i'm not breaking the law?

Answer 1

You want to risk wearing no shoes with all the crap on the streets out there? you'll risk infection and cuts, its unhygenic as well

Answer 2

If they hurt your feet, just don't wear them... but they do also protect your feet to an extent. If you go without them for a long time, your feet will become tough enough to stand most things you could tread on, but before then, you'd be running the risk of stepping on broken glass, small stones, stinging plants and other hazards.

I tried it for a few weeks, and managed to get past the glass, but I found the skin on my feet dried up, and that was quite painful. Maybe vaseline is the solution to that though, if it happens. (I just read Irishdolls comment on chewing gum- she's right! It happened to me! It wasn't the gum itself that was the problem, just that lots of little stones got stuck to it, I was limping around for ages before I realised what was happening... doh!)

In the West, shoes are not just shoes of course- they're also a kind of personal statement. Partly we wear shoes because we are pressured by marketeers and fashion critics; peer pressure also plays a big part in this- it's like, if you aren't wearing the right shoes, then you're not part of the scene. In some countries of course, going without shoes is pretty standard, but here, if you have no shoes, it will probably look pretty strange- okay if you're camping perhaps, but it may lose a job interview for you.

Good luck anyway- of course, if you've not left your parents house yet, there may be another reason you have to wear shoes- mother says so!

Answer 3

> ... was cool, and asked why i was going barefoot ... I wasnt sure what to say
> ...there are a myriad of reasons for going barefoot ... but what do you say
> to someone who is interested but doesnt want to hear a 3 hour explanation?

Try asking, why they wear shoes? This puts the shoe on the other foot,
so to speak. My experience has been that this helps balance out the
discussion, so that others don't feel like their being "preached" to about
the "evils" of shoes. Their most common reply is, "for protection." Which
gives me some idea where to start explaining why I don't wear shoes. For
example, I can explain that my feet don't need protection from normal use.
It is what they were designed for. If I wear shoes, my feet become
blistered, deformed, smelly, weak and prone to disease. If I don't wear
shoes, my feet stay strong and healthy.

More importantly, asking the shoe-wearer why they wear shoes, could make
them think about and question there own choice, often for the first time.
I have similar situations with being vegan. To boost my own confidence, I
only need to remember that, unlike most people, my footwear and dietary
choices are the result of personal experience and much research and
reflection. While their own choices are often the result of just "doing
it" because, most other people do.

You may not convert them, but if they start to think, you have planted a
seed in fertile soil, and often gained some respect for having actually
put some thought into your own choices (a rare thing in todays world).

-ken saxton
Home page; http://daydream.ee.csulb.edu/~ksaxton/
Running Barefoot page; http://daydream.ee.csulb.edu/~runbfoot/

http://www.barefooters.org/best-of/why_wear_shoes-ks.txt

Answer 4

You should buy new comfortable shoes and then you won't hate them. But if you really hate them, then don't wear them.
We have to wear shoes because if you live in a cold climate country, it protects your feet from the freeze. So, if you live in a warm country - don't wear shoes. But before that, you should know that people will think about you that you're crazy. But it's not bad, it's fun! Go on! :)) just be careful for the glass and microbes:)

Answer 5

I don't like not wearing shoes outside my house; my lawn is kind of painful to walk over barefoot. And at my school, I sometimes cross a pretty major street, and since it's not in the best neighborhood, I have to look out for broken glass, rusty nails, and other stuff.

So, while it's all well and good to want to not wear shoes, it's not going to be a possibility until the ground becomes less littered with crap.

Answer 6

I hate them too. I feel so restricted in them. I like to wear flip-flops, but prefer to go barefoot in and around the outside of my home. In some parts of the world they don't wear shoes of any kind. The soles of there feet are as thick and hard-wearing as the soles of our shoes! It's just that our feet have been so used to shoes for so long that we westerners have spoilt our feet, we buy lotions & potions to soften the sole, and as a result of this we would find it very painful to go about our everyday lives without them.

Answer 7

The sole of your foot is fifty times thicker than the rest of your body, but that's an estimate. Thanks to evolution, our feet are weaker and much more sensitive. Plus, walking barefoor could get your foot cut and considering that blood circulates there a lot more, bacteria and germs will infect your body pretty fast. And with all the **** in the world, I'm not taking that risk.

Answer 8

you dont have to do anything. but it does stop you from standing on things which may harm you or which may be unpleasant. try going around your normal day with no shoes and im sure you would proobably hurt your foot at some point

Answer 9

if u dont wanna wear shoes then dont but u mite get a few stares and stuff like dat and chewing gum stuck 2 ur feet

Answer 10

To protect our feet I guess. U don't have 2 wear shoes.U do in stores!

Answer 11

cos there's plenty of dirty crap on the floor that if you stepped on it would probably make a few septic holes in your feet! (eg syringes) so shoes are good.