Why do so few people go barefoot these days?

If you were born before the 1990s, you probably remember a time when seeing someone barefoot was no big deal. Particularly in the summer months, it was not uncommon to see someone walking barefoot walking through your neighborhood or dashing into a convenience store.

During the past 30 years that has changed. Seeing someone barefoot in a public place other than a beach or a pool can be as shocking as seeing someone nude. Yet, as I explain in the FAQs, going barefoot is healthy and legal. So why is it so uncommon?

One reason was the emergence of “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” signs. Although many of these have now disappeared, their presence created an impression that going barefoot is “unsanitary” or “wrong.” It didn’t help that some of these businesses were so cowardly that they falsely included “by order of the Department of Health.” As a result, people started wearing shoes all the time to avoid the inconvenience of encountering one of these signs barefoot.

American society has also become focused (some might say obsessed) with protecting itself, particularly children, from any potential hazard people could encounter. (Queue Helen Lovejoy exclaiming: “Please, won’t someone think about the children!”) Thus, people stuff their feet into shoes all the time because of the small chance they could cut their foot or stub their toes.

Additionally, I believe that the increased use of flip-flops has had an effect. When I was a child, the only place I ever saw people wear flip-flops was at the beach. I often forgot they even existed in between summer trips to the shore. But, sometime in the 1990s, society decided that flip-flops were acceptable to wear anytime. Nowadays, even in the winter months, you see many people constantly wearing flip-flops. At every office job I’ve held, I’ve had to endure the annoying thack of my female coworkers’ flip-flops during the spring and summer months.

So, what does this have to do with the decline of people going barefoot? Very few people are 24/7 barefooters, so, when most people go barefoot, it’s because they don’t have the time or energy to put on shoes. But, now that it’s OK to wear flip-flops virtually anywhere, that reason for going barefoot has been eliminated because flip-flops are easy to slip on and off.  Unfortunately, this means that people who wear flip-flops will never toughen their soles, so, if they do go barefoot, they probably immediately discover that their feet are too tender and decide to not go barefoot again.