OK, I've noticed something while browsing pictures of barefooters' feet. Almost all of your toes are shorter and stumbier than nonbarefooters'. I had always thought that putting on shoes would restrict the toes' ability to grow forward, making them shorter, but apparently it's the opposite. Why is this the case?
I don't think mine are short and stubby. And I DO think that wearing shoes messes your feet up. Everytime I see a non-barefooter without shoes on, I notice the toes looking crushed together. Out of interest, "all of yours" .. vs. "non-barefooters" ...How many non-barefooter feet have you examined?
The ends of my toes are knobby, a little thicker than the toes themselves - especially on my second toe, which is a bit longer than the big one (Morton's or Greek toes)... that also means, that I have to look for adjustable toe rings instead of closed ones, when choosing foot jewelry: But, regardless of their shape, I give my toes the highest amount of happiness possible by baring them to the world. :sunny: Wiggling bare knobby toes, ~*Ganesha*~
I don't think the length of our toes depends on whether we go barefoot or not, it's just genetic. Think of how some people have short and stubby fingers, and others have long, slender ones -yet we are all bare-handed. What wearing shoes does is influence the shape/stand of the toes, regardless of whether they're long or short. Also remember many of us aren't barefooters from birth; I believe most of the folks on this forum started in their adult life, when they were old enough to make their own decisions, rather than growing up barefoot. There have been plenty threads about dealing with parents and other family members who aren't too happy with us! Myself, my parents weren't anti-barefoot and I was barefoot or sock-footed in the house and back yard, but never in public, so I wore footwear for the most part of the day, all through school, etc. I also have short toes but they are straight, I rarely if ever wore the narrow fashion footwear even in those years I was an adult woman but not yet a barefooter, and they've straightened out a bit more since. Also have a noticeable space between my big toe and the rest, which I think was absent when I still spent most of my day shod.
I have noticed that people who wear shoes all the time seem to have VERY long toes. Like girls who wear very short toed open toped dainty shoes after wearing heels all the time, and it looks bloody silly, only like the first joint of their toes is covered. I think it may be a reaction to constriction-like a plant that's not getting enough light shooting up. Toes don't have enough room, so they fight and grow even more. I've gone barefoot plenty in my life, and currently don't really wear shoes, but my outer toes slope in a lot, my foot's got plenty of the funny looking diamond shape at the outer toe joint. And I have medium short-ish toes. Nothing WRONG with short or long toes, I've met plenty of people with either, who either do or do not wear shoes. But it does seem like you could be onto something, there may be a mild correlation. You have pretty feet. And I'm not a foot fetishist or anything.... They just look properly proportioned. They show exactly what I mean, the OP seems to be right that stuffing your feet into shoes makes your toes react by trying to break loose. But it could all be coincidence. *edit* I could be wrong, but from personal observation of myself, family, and friends, I think what you call "knobby", that is, you have well defined, cushioned pads on your toes, is also a part of a properly defined healthy bare foot. More cushion and protection, and grip. Your toes would have considerably less grip in mud or something if they were totally strait...
How many feet have I examined? A lot of pictures on this site for the barefooters' feet. And I have a foot fetish so I love staring at female non-barefooters' feet.
I find those a drugstores... and I really enjoy the weird looks people give a barefoot man with bejeweled toes and multi-colored toenails browsing for nail polish. Thank you for the compliment. And don't worry. Just calling someone else's feet pretty doesn't make anyone a foot fetishist. As I wrote elsewhere (a German-speaking hippie/barefoot web forum), I would have to look at the women telling me I have pretty feet with different eyes. I know the difference... I had a quite juicy and steamy mail exchange with a gay foot fetishist in my college days. Wiggling bare toes, ~*Ganesha*~
I would imagine as you go barefoot more your toes and the top half of your feet start to spread out more, sort of like covering more ground type thing...like...am I making any sense? lol I used to have pretty narrow feet, but after I had a kid (for some reason, I've heard a few woman say their feet got wider after kids), and after I've gone barefoot more, I've noticed they're a bit wider than what they used to be. Like I said, I can only imagine this is my foots strange way of getting a better grasp on what she be walkin' on. :2thumbsup: ...Also, what RooRShack said.
Has anyone else who started barefooting as an adult noticed any change in their arches? I was always barefoot at home as a kid, but it was only at 23 I started barefooting 24/7. This is the third year of it, and I was thinking the other day that the arches of my feet seem slightly better, more arched and stronger.