Sydney Life

When it gets down to the nitty gritty, most people have something which inspires them to stand on a metaphorical soapbox. This week, I found mine. It concerns the prejudice which a certain class within our society (I’ll call them ‘The Shod’) bear toward the minority (For clarity, they can be ‘The Un-Shod”).

It all started on Wednesday - I finished my piece, pausing appropriately at the end of the last note. My teacher walked over.

“Better, Liisa. I can see you’ve worked a bit on intonation.” My shoulders returned to the normal, relaxed level - a moment too soon, as it turned out.

“BUT,” my teacher continued, “No more performing in bare feet.”

I looked down at my naked feet, which just moments ago were sturdy vehicles of movement. They suddenly appeared paler, more bizarre, and incredibly ugly. Slowly, they led me back to my violin case.

Perhaps I wouldn’t be so concerned if this was an isolated incident. But no, at main campus just hours later, one [very loud] arts student was heard to say “Oh my GOD, what is WITH those ENGLISH students? They just don’t wear shoes! It’s too weird.”

This passionate outburst troubled me – why the hostility towards the Un-Shod? Whatever happened to developing natural arch support? Or having optimum tree-climbing grip? What about developing eye-feet co-ordination as you dodge the dog poo/glass/sharp sticks/syringes (choose obstacle as appropriate to your habitat)?

The occasional bare-foot banditry has such obvious benefits – so why the prejudice? The whole thing had me quite worked up, so I got on the net to do some ‘research’ (read ‘procrastination’).

Not even babies are safe – countless baby shoe websites proudly proclaim the virtues of their “ultra-cool” shoes. Many sites declare that their shoes are “the next best thing to bare feet”. The NEXT BEST THING TO BARE FEET? Forgive me if I am wrong, but feet are quite common, and the bare varieties are generally quite cheap. Which really begs the question - why would one fork out 29 US dollars for a pair of metallic pink ‘Lolas for one’s 0-6 month old baby when they are only the next best thing to the [considerably cheaper] bare feet already installed at the end of aforementioned baby’s legs?

That prestigious fountain of knowledge, ‘Wikipedia’, even has an article devoted to this ‘social taboo’. This article taught me many things, perhaps most interestingly that the barefoot taboo stems back to the Vietnam war. Apparently, going barefoot was a sign that you were a dirty, pacifist hippy, so many people who had previously been carefree and shoe-less began wearing shoes to avoid being associated with the anti-war protests. The Wikipedia article also answered once and for all the question that burns at the heart of all L-plate drivers – good news kids, in Australia there is NO LAW against driving barefoot!

There’s even a Society for Barefoot Living, a group who cite the benefits and simple pleasures of going shoeless. In case you’re interested, membership is free…

So what’s the verdict on the barefoot taboo? Considering that my research was done with a pretty clear bias, I’m going to say embrace your feet (metaphorically, unless you are my yoga teacher)! Besides, as one friend of mine put it “Playing barefoot can only earth you to an overtone of the cosmic fundamental… Yeh?”