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Barefoot days – Sydney University researchers exploring the need for shoes

By Al Gauthier ⋅ November 13, 2009 ⋅

Barefoot days – Jeff Corbett – The Herald: “Barefoot days
Life for a child is at a low pass, I reckon, when their parents won’t let them out of the house without shoes. Yet that is now Australia, or at least urban middle-class Australia. ‘Put your shoes on!’ has been a chorus at my place for a quarter of a century, and still it rings out when our youngest is heading out the door.

But why should we wear shoes? A Sydney University team of researchers is exploring the question of why we should not wear shoes, and as you may have read in The Herald on Friday that study involves the humble flip-flop thong. The rubber thong, not, presumably, the ridiculously expensive and debilitatingly stiff surf-brand thong. A member of the research team, podiatrist Angus Chard, says experts are coming to the view that the best shoe should mimic the bare foot, which seems to contradict the old warning against wearing thongs. Mr Chard says it has been established recently that there is more movement in the arch of the foot than believed previously, and so it may be that allowing the foot flexibility will help develop the muscles in the foot. In the study the researchers will use computer animation technology to examine the way children’s feet and legs move while wearing shoes, thongs and no footwear. (They’re seeking children aged between six and 13 inclusive for the study – Angus 0419 436 633.)

But why should we wear shoes anyway? We wear them to protect our feet in some instances, and I suppose that the more we wear shoes the more we need to wear them to protect our tender feet. But mainly, I think, we wear shoes to meet the dictates of fashion and expectations of respectability. We are shocked by photos of the tiny bound feet of women in some old Asian cultures, yet we don’t question that fashion and not anatomy shapes shoes for women in our culture and deforms their feet.

There is a cost, too, that is much more than money and discomfort. We lose more sensation in shoes than you are likely to remember, and I am sure we sacrifice important fine-tuning of our stance and gait. Until I moved to Newcastle to go to high school, I didn’t wear shoes, and I remember the shock of lacing stiff leather shoes onto my feet to go to high school. It felt as though I’d encased my feet in concrete.

May Angus Chard and his Sydney University fellows unbind our feet! And in the meantime I suggest that a charity in need of a gimmick introduce Barefoot Day. We have Red Nose Day, and Dress Down Day, and Pink Ribbon Day, and Jeans Day, so let’s have Barefoot Day. We could make a donation on behalf of each freed toe. It will be wonderfully sensuous.

Tell us about your relationship with your feet. And are you prepared to go barefoot for a day? “

(Via .)

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