Are flip flops Manly?

Read this first...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,220978,00.html

 

They make me walk funny!


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Good God, does everything have to come down to assuaging the feelings of these "manly men?" I've worn flops all my life, even now, it's what I keep on hand for when I have to have some sort of foot wear. (A little secret: it isn't in the next 50 year plan for me to stop, either)

I never care if nice looking feet look a little too feminine to these types---we have hicks here in Maine who live in a different world than I. Most of them wouldn't be caught dead with any of their extremities bare, 'cept for their arms, of course. We manage to get along, though, most of the time. I encounter these types wherever I work, and it usually doesn't take them long to decide that I'm "OK" once they see that I have satisfactory guy stuff like a large pickup truck, chainsaw, heavy pruning equipment. I must be very confusing for them, but mostly it works. One gain, about 10-12 years ago here, is that it suddenly became OK for real manly men to wear shorts to their jobsites---MAJOR change, but now it's accepted. Progress---

 

If you worry about whether you're being a Real Man, then I think you're short on the kind of traits that a Real Man allegedly has--not that I'd make an issue out of it, but it seems to be important to some people.

Leaving Real Men out of it, we go from being kids to being adults when we do the things we want to, whether everyone else does the same or not. If you like flipflops, then I say go for them and damn Fox News.

 

*sigh* It's sad that they even feel the need to ask the question. Fashion, like anything is highly subjective and we all bring our own preferences into it. I've never thought about whether my flip flops enhance or detract from my sexuality, because frankly speaking, they have NOTHING to do with it. If someone is basing their "manliness" on their choice in clothing, then there's some serious insecurity there.

I think most men who throw on flip flops do it because it's comfortable, and they prefer the feeling of being (almost) barefoot. I am glad to see an upswing in flip flop use, whether it's men or women...because to me that's one step closer to acceptance of those choosing to go barefoot as well.

 

people are so strange, i've noticed around here people have not only stopped wearing flip-flops and sandals, but most people especially women are wearing fur lined winter footwear, its still 50-70 degrees around here, i'm still wearing my flips but i feel like the lone ranger because i'm not wearing winter gear already.

 

it doesn't surprise me at all that fox, the extreme right leaning, voice of the conservatives, pseudo-news, would be the one to have such an article much less post it. I guess that roughly, 15,000 MALE Texas A&M students (45,000 student body) aren't manly because they still wear flip flops around town and the campus. Prolly around the same amount of T-sips too.

like cool spruce, I plan on wearing flip flops for the next 50 years (turning 5 0 in feburary)

 

When I setup this poll, I did it in a hurry and should have included another option such as "I don't care, I'm going to wear them anyway".

I hate the fact that the fashion police have such an influence on people's minds. I also hate the fact I can't buy a pair of shorts that are shorter than my knees. This is a direct result of their actions and influence. Just wait and see what the end result of this article will be. Hopefully Chacos and Tevas will still be around.

 

Who cares, of course I live in southeast Texas so flip-flops are kind of a normal footwear around here. I work at the Fire Department and if some guy was worried about what we had on our feet or not on our feet, it just wouldn't fly. There are guys wearing sandles at night around the station I guess there are even some wearing flip-flops, I don't know, I haven't paid attention. Off-duty there are definatly guys wearing flip-flops when they come by the station to pick-up their check.

 

first lets us consider the source of the article, "FOX NEWS". ultra conservative right wing news media, fuck the fashion police, wear what you enjoy. i have flips for when i must wear footwear. they are the only type of footwear i own other than my workboots. i applaud flips because it is one step closer to having those feet bare.

do we really care what a bunch of rap machismo idiots consider manly.

 

it's a warm fall in The Netherlands, still going barefoot or on flip-flops if I HAVE to wear some kind of footwear... but some people look at me as if I'm crazy.

 

But notice this ER doc dick says nothing about girls and women facing the same "dangers" that men supposedly face while in flops. The double standard with these types is unbelievable to me. For that matter, I brought up once before, I wonder whether we'll EVER see GUYS showing up at the White House in flops, or even nice shorts. Not in my lifetime, I'm afraid, although I've seen some of this stuff get a lot better during my time so far

 

This is something I see every year. As if Maine summers aren't short enough, we seem to need to "ratify" that it's "over" by a total shift in mindset and dress around Labor Day. There is a little summer clothing carry-over after that. But by now, (mid Oct) even though it's another mild fall, possibly portending another mild winter, only a very few shorts diehards are left, and I'm the ONLY one still in flops or bf.

 

Even though I'm a tad older than you, and it's supposedly the start of winter here, I just got a very nice compliment from one of the nurses where my wife is, about how I look; med length shorts, tan, flops and toe rings. I guess I have to be glad I get fewer weird stares than was once the case.

 

This is a very good thread you set up, which is why I wanted it to have the 5 stars! And your bringing up the point about the length of shorts is yet another reason why I think this thread covered a lot of ground. I've always worn my shorts shorter than the younger guys, (slightly longer in winter, of course.) As someone from Alberta said here awhile back, it seems to be a generational thing, but perhaps not. Even though I'm not wild about the trend to long shorts on boys/men, at least I see a trend that it's now more OK for boys/men to wear shorts, and into colder seasons, than was the case when I was young. A tradeoff, I guess.

Sorry about the multiple replies here. I haven't learned how to put multiple quotes into the same reply, as I do on some boards.

 

Romans soldier wore them .....but then so did the Spartans they just were not made of foam rubber those days.

 

From antiquity to modern times, they have been talked about in hushed tones, forbidden from the list of acceptable work dress and drawn on Egyptian temple walls.



Terms vary from "thongs" in Australia to "jandals" in New Zealand to "slippers" in Hawaii. To American youth they will eternally be known as "flip flops."


For some Americans, the attraction of flip flops is ready accessibility and of course the cuteness factor. But for many who work in the business scene, this foot fetish is forbidden.



Laura Oglesby of Texarkana, Texas, said she enjoys wearing flip flops outside of the workplace, but is not allowed to wear them where she works.



"You can dress them up, or dress them down. They are easy," she said.



Melody Elliott, head teller at Regions Bank on Summerhill Road, said she doesn't understand why they can't wear flip flops to work.



"I guess they're not as professional. If I could I'd be in them everyday," she said. "They are airy and keep my feet cool. You don't have to wear hose with them, you just slip them on and you don't have to lace them."



Elliott thinks when warmer weather arrives, her toes are begging to be released from their winter long confinement.




Elliott thinks when warmer weather arrives, her toes are begging to be released from their winter long confinement.



"Your toes cry for that little thing between them. After a whole winter of being cooped up in shoes, your toes cry for that release," she explained.



After years of notoriety, flip flops have come into their own, taking on every facet of fashion, from the cheep rubber ones, to the sparkly and sequined creations found at many department stores.


Randy Bricker, manager of Warren's Shoes in the mall said he thinks they are so popular because they can be bought anywhere, for a variety of prices and comfort levels.



"The price is relative to the materials. If you buy a $2 dollar pair, you get $2 worth, If you buy a $90 pair, you get handmade leather," he said.



Bricker went on to add that he wears flip flops outside of work because he feels it would be inappropriate to wear them in the men's store.



"In the women's Warren's they can (wear them), because it's fashionable. A certain department store that I won't name has recently changed their policy to allow them in the workplace. What is inappropriate in some settings is appropriate for us in a fashion setting," Bricker said.



Once thought of as "shower or beach shoes," flip flops have taken on a life of their own, becoming to many a staple in any fashionable wardrobe.



The history of flip flops date back to ancient times of Roman soldiers making them famous with their little leather skirts and short swords. They continued to be popular for soldiers and the working class on into the Middle Ages, until their popularity fizzled in a time of high fashion during the Renaissance. They started to come back in the early 20th century with fashions becoming more brazen and skirts getting shorter and shorter. Accessories have cropped up in recent times with the advent of the toe ring and pedicure art.



"I have to have a pedicure if I wear flip flops. I don't want some nasty toenails. You want them all cute and painted," Oglesby said.



According to some, flip flops and sandals may be the most enduring and oldest shoe of all time. On the other hand, some will always consider them nothing more than "shower shoes."



Trey McCraw, owner of Ark-Tex Landscaping, said he does not wear flip flops because of discomfort he has experienced.



"They are not comfortable. I don't like to deal with something being wedged in between my toes," said McCraw. "I don't usually wear them, maybe at the lake or something."



Sue Jones of Texarkana, Texas, agrees with McCraw, for much the same reasons.



"I used to wear them years and years ago, but not anymore. They hurt between my toes," Jones said. "I bought some high healed ones, but I couldn't walk in them."



John Nguyen, assistant manager of Famous Footwear, said his issue with the fad is the noise they make.



"I don't like the clickity clack as you walk, it gets kinda annoying. Flip, flop, flip, flop, flip, flop, as you walk, I can hear them coming a mile away."



Nguyen's associate at the store disagrees with him on the noise factor, making a game out of simply walking.



"I like to hear them flipping and flopping as you walk. I drag them and pop them," said Andrew Dozier, sales associate at Famous Footwear.



People can buy flip flops at any shoe store, ranging from $2 rubber and string ones, to $150 jeweled creations.



"Someone who buys $100 shoes will buy these for $20 and someone who thinks $20 is too much will buy them too. They are everyday shoes," Bricker said.



So what is the attraction for so many people in a flat-soled, two-stringed and sometimes very expensive addiction?



Becky Woods of Wake Village said that she has spent up to $22 on a pair of flip flops and loves to wear them outside of work.



"They're comfortable, my feet can breathe and they are easy to get on or off," Woods said.



Bricker explains his personal affinity for them as cooling down the whole body and getting a nice tan.



"You get sun on your feet, get rid of that bare white line at the top of your foot," he said. "It's cooler too, your body temperature is higher when you wear shoes. Heat dissipates through your feet."

 

yeah, it's all about the jandals.

I think that article is a crock...no one bats an eye when men wear jandals in NZ....granted, they aren't often worn in elegant office buildings (by anyone) and the classier bars that enforce a dress code won't let anyone -of any gender - in with jandals, but ,for the most part, they are a decidedly normal piece of NZ clothing.

the jandal section at many shoe shops is pretty big, the guys just as large as the girls....

but, y'know, they may not be 'manly'...then again they aren't 'feminine'...they are just jandals, free of any gender connotations..

They are pretty popular here, part of 'Kiwiana' kitsch culture - they were even on a postage stamp as a NZ icon.

In fact....

"Flip-flops were inspired by the traditional woven soled zori or "Japanese Sandals", (hence "jandals"). Woven Japanese zori had been used as beach wear in New Zealand in the 1930s, (and according to one source, called Jandals then); in the austere immediate post war period in both New Zealand and America versions were briefly popularized by servicemen returning from occupied Japan, but the idea of making them from rubber or plastics, which were relatively new at the time, does not appear to have occurred for another decade. The modern design was invented in Auckland, New Zealand by Maurice Yock in the 50's and patented in 1957."

from here

they were invented by a man (for his own use)...it's us girls who have stolen them

 

yes. if a guy wears flip-flops it shows that he doesn't care if someone thinks he's manly or not, therefore making that a very manly quality.