Barefooting: A Gender Gap?

After attending the Rainbow Gathering, I noticed how rare it was to find a man barefooting in the woods, yet how common it was to see a woman barefoot. Since I don't live in a location where barefooting is common I can't test my hypothesis out in the "real world".


What has been your experiences in the "barefoot world"? Do you think there are generally more women that barefoot compared to men?

 

I know more barefoot man then women, but that is not representational. Í know a lot of people that would go barefoot if they didn't live in the big city, so would I. I mean barefoot is nice, but not with all the road dirt, and well, used needles and pieces of glass, dog crap, and ocasional puke. BAH.

 

In my old city I was the only one to barefoot (at least when I seen) and when I moved my girlfriend and I came across three other barefooters. Who were all women by the way. I've never seen (except on the forums) or met another barefooting male.

 

I wouldn't say that. I went to the Oregon Country Fair. I saw just as many barefooted men as I did barefooted women.

 

Well, I live out in the country, so its really common for me to see anybody walking around barefoot. I do it all the time.

 

It is probably a little more common for females, at least with high schoolers (see whose shoes come off at dances, regardless of rules against it) Never the guys, as far as I know. Starting in college, I think it gets closer to even, with young women having a slight edge. After that, I just don't know. Even in the resort town of Bar Harbor, with every degree of dress and undress in public, I am almost always the only barefooter, and I'm a guy.

I guess the nearly invisible flip flops these days, mostly worn by girls, are supposed to count as barefooting, and if that be so, girls definitely have the edge. Guys seem to miss out on a lot of this kind of thing. Not me.

 

Well, I'll agree with that. Unless you're in a specific place where it's always been common to be barefoot, most guys will usually fall into the "put your fuckin shoes on you hippy" thing. Sad that some of us are brought up this way. My home town is a tourist town / water community. You'd think that all the locals would be barefoot in the summer, but strangely, it's only the tourists that take advantage. My guess is that the Nike sales pitch is working.

 

i now i would love to go barefoot but there is to damn much stuff i would hurt myself on

 

If you are carefull then you shouldn't hurt yourself.

 

I don't think it matters; some would say I'm a man, but I'm a woman... so, I dunno.

I barefoot just because I like to.

 

its hard i walk around and i see dangerous stuff i try to be carefull though

 

Many womens shoes are designed for fashion rather than function. They are pretty, but they hurt. (Well, they are supposed to be pretty.) This results in teenage girls taking their shoes off at dances and respectible matrons keeping their shoes off until the last moment. We see more shoeless women.

How this influances people to adopt a barefoot lifestyle, I don't know.

 

i also think alot of people dont like showing there feet its like they worry that people will look down on them.

 

I never really see anyone barefoot where I live. I'm really the only one that I know of 'round here.

 

GEEEZ! What kind of slum are you living in?

Is that kind of stuff really that ubiquitous?

I've never been to a city that was that way all around. I'm sure parts of New York City are pretty scuzzy, but not the average sidewalk, surely?



-Jeffrey

 

Absolutely there are more women barefoot than men. Why? Because there's a double standard out there. It's wrong - but it's something we barefooters have to face along with all the other prejudices from folks that are just misinformed to the ones who are total misopodists (haters of bare feet).

The thing is, a barefoot woman is usually considered sexy, or at worst a little naughty and rebellious. A barefoot man is none of those things; he's usually just thought of as slovenly or maybe a little nuts. These are generalities of course. Not everyone thinks those things about someone being barefoot. But it does kind of explain why we are much more likely to see a barefoot woman than a barefoot man in public.

 

I had someone explain it similarly to this. It kinda makes sense. There's something about a barefoot girl, someone told me, that is sexy...

It's strange, to me, but generally probably makes sense.

 

That's it. You just came out and said what I was circumlocuting in my other post. Double standard. It is wrong, especially now that I hear that some women enjoy seeing (some) guys' feet. It looks like it could go both ways, but for some reason it mostly goes one way, in favor of young women.

 

On the nose. If a woman goes without shoes, she seems to be telling the world, "I am spontaneous, daring and a little naive--in short, the girl of your dreams." Barefooted guys, on the other hand, may as well wear a sign that says, "I just traded my shoes for crystal meth. Spare change?" Why the messages differ so radically, I have no idea. One reason may be that girls are much more likely than guys to go for regular pedicures and spring for pumice stones. The world may assume that well cared-for feet couldn't possibly belong to a degenerate.

 

I just have to say that barefoot guys are HOT!!!!