Bare Feet
Barefoot (also barefooted) is the state of not wearing any footwear. While for functional, fashion, and social reasons footwear is generally worn, the wearing of footwear volitionally is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of many human societies, especially outdoors and not in an exclusively private context. Many people do not wear footwear in their home, and some expect visitors to do the same.
Many people regard the wearing of footwear as a sign of civilization and being barefoot as a sign of poverty. However, even when poverty is not relevant, some still choose to be barefoot, at least in some situations.
There are health risks and benefits associated with going barefoot. Footwear provides protection from cuts, abrasions, and bruises, from objects on the ground, as well as protection from frostbite and parasites like hookworm. However, some shoes can limit the flexibility and mobility of the foot and can lead to higher incidences of flat feet or toes that curve inwards. Walking barefoot also results in a more natural gait, allowing for a more rocking motion of the foot and eliminating the hard heel strike and generating less collision force in the foot and lower leg.
Many stores, restaurants, and other public venues in the United States have dress codes against bare feet. While private business owners are free to set their own policies, many also cite nonexistent health regulations, though these typically are requirements that pertain to employees, not customers. Many people also believe that it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle barefoot, though there are no laws in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other places against it.
There are many sports that people play barefoot, including running, water skiing, beach volleyball, gymnastics, and martial arts. In modern language, someone who prefers not to wear shoes in public is known as a barefooter. The term may also be used to describe someone participating in certain sports, such as barefoot skiing or barefoot running.
Read more about Bare Feet: Historical and Religious Aspects, Arts and Entertainment, Health Implications, Laws, Sports and Recreation
Famous quotes containing the words bare and/or feet:
“When the ground was partially bare of snow, and a few warm days had dried its surface somewhat, it was pleasant to compare the first tender signs of the infant year just peeping forth with the stately beauty of the withered vegetation which had withstood the winter ... decent weeds, at least, which widowed Nature wears.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“As for conforming outwardly, and living your own life inwardly, I do not think much of that. Let not your right hand know what your left hand does in that line of business. It will prove a failure.... It is a greater strain than any soul can long endure. When you get God to pulling one way, and the devil the other, each having his feet well braced,—to say nothing of the conscience sawing transversely,—almost any timber will give way.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)