Foot Notes

[penpusher]

I had long considered doing a post on this topic. And what inspired it today was a comment made by crissy who apparently has been grossed out by people on another site in dealing with this. So, let's get down to it.

Just what is it about feet, anyway? There are a lot of people that don't understand. What could the attraction possibly be? Truthfully, there is no answer for this. No ONE answer. There are guys that think that feet are disgusting and think that other guys that like feet are twisted.

Then, there's also no consensus on the subject from the people that collectively do have a liking. Some only want to see the soles and don't care about the toenails. Some prefer unpolished nails or French pedicure, not some unnatural color polish. Still others like a longer second toe to the more typical "stairstep" phlanges. Some like long slender toes while others prefer short and stubby. Complicated.

How does a guy figure out he likes feet? It apparently happens pretty early in life for many. Some say that it's imprinting... when a child is learning to walk and he sees the bare feet or flip flops or sandals of his mom, or other women around when crawling at that time, an association is made in the brain that seeing feet means pleasure, fun, freedom! (We could do an unofficial study to determine if guys born in winter months or colder climates have less of an attraction!)

Then there is the question of the word, "fetish." Strictly speaking, a "fetish," in terms of what we're talking about here, is, according to Webster's: an object or bodily part whose real or fantasied presence is psychologically necessary for sexual gratification and that is an object of fixation to the extent that it may interfere with complete sexual expression.

This proper definition of "fetish" is what helps to make men who like feet seem weirder than they are. Because everyone throws around the alliterative term "foot fetish" all the time. In fact, there aren't that many true "foot fetishists" out there. However, there are a good number of men with a "foot interest."

As you can see, this isn't an easy topic to grasp. Add in the fact that it's still carries that stigma of being "weird," and this topic doesn't get discussed much at all, at least not in the mainstream.

The other day, Hollywood honcho Quentin Tarantino made an appearance on the Tyra Banks talk show. And they did a discussion of his attraction to women's feet, which gets showcased in most of his films, notably in "Pulp Fiction," where he had Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta chatting for a few minutes about foot massages before they go in for a hit and he gets a shot or two of Uma Thurman's bare peds.

Tyra's had a segment titled "America's Next Top Foot Model," and Quentin judged three women who walked in high heels, and demonstrated some amusing talents with their feet. Surprisingly, no one treated this as bizarre. I have to say, I think that's one small step for feet!

But the whole concept of feet can still be offputting to some. And in the media, you'll sometimes hear stories about guys who steal shoes (like that lawyer who liked Marla Maples, Donald Trump's now most recent ex-wife), or guys that try to tickle an unsuspecting girl's feet on a college campus or something. News reports definitely help to associate an interest in feet with bizarre behavior, and that makes it less comfortable for those guys who are normal to discuss it and talk about it as a normal part of dating and relationships.

I think there needs to be a dialogue about stuff like this. No one should feel creepy in talking about it or in admitting an interest in it. In fact a interest in feet is probably the most common of all of such body part interests. It's really ok.

I'm kicking off Foot Friday! There's really nothing wrong with that. Feet are beautiful things!

Any questions? Any answers?

Comments

[serendipity.livejournal.com]

Hooray for Foot Friday!!

I'm curious - are feet beautiful in general, or are some feet more beautiful than others, and, if so, what's your criteria for foot beauty?

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

These are good and difficult questions. As I stated above, it's all very much an "eye of the beholder" concept. Esoterically, there are feet that are more attractive than others, but it's just subjective.

Personally, I prefer a foot that is more meaty rather than bony and toes that aren't really long. The icon is a nice example of an attractive foot. The shoes are from one of the Bloomingdale's Christmas catalogues.

[serendipity.livejournal.com]

Thanks - it looks like you might also like high arches...

[elysiangirl.livejournal.com]

i think by that "proper" definition, anyone with any fetish could be considered "weird".

but weird is such a subjective term.

feet do nothing for me, but if they make someone else happy or excited or whatever, and they are being legal and ethical in their foot endeavors, then who cares?

i like the idea of the association to seeing mom's feet when you're crawling. i wonder, is it strictly referring to female feet?

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Well, fetish is a misused term, which was my point about it. Most guys don't have a true fetish, but rather an interest.

I think girls don't have the same response for guy feet, if only because most guys aren't barefoot, in flip flops or sandals, even during the summer... and dads weren't praising their daughters in the same way moms did their sons. Also boys tend to be more visual, so that sort of stimulus imprints a lot more easily.

This isn't an exact science, though, and I've met women who have a thing for male feet, so it can go the other way too.

[ex-crissy.livejournal.com]

If a perfect stranger watches an innocent video of me, and then feels compelled to ask me for photos of my feet, I think it's creepy. Period.

I feel the same way if a perfect stranger watches an innocent video of me and asks me to take off my top.

In my experience, these foot fetish people are as a group, creepy. There might be some cool feet-lovers out there, but I wouldn't know. I just wish they would stop bombarding my inbox, I don't have anything against them.

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

This kind of reminds me of the Eddie Izzard bit at the beginning of Dressed to Kill, where he talks about being an Executive Transvestite and how it's a lot wider community than you think.

I get a lot of weird emails from women in Russia who want to marry me (despite my femaleness) but I can't judge all Russian women based on that kind of spam, you know?

It's creepy when a perfect stranger approaches a person with an explicitly erotic request, whatever the content of said request. That violates a whole lot of social taboos, and most people aren't going to be comfortable with that.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Hm. You've been raising some very interesting points about all of this Crissy.

I would say that equating the showing of feet with the showing of breasts isn't an exact parallel, though. I mean, feet are publically exposed for about half the year, and depending on your lattitude, maybe more, so I think that's not quite the same. Really, women know that their feet should be attractive, which is the point of pedicures, toerings and all of the other adornments. They are showing them off, which is a good thing.

I'm not sure what would make someone ask you for photos of your feet generally. It's quite a non-sequitur. But it seems like you've come across a rather odd collection of commenters! Maybe you HAVE been dealing with true foot fetish people!

[lisaburks.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's anything different than people having an obsession for lack of a better word for other body parts. No one questions a boob, butt or leg man. Or, woman. I say if the body part is cleaned/groomed, I have no issues, bodies are beautiful. I have been traumatized by skanky feet though, I can't fathom why anyone would walk around in public with crusty heels, dirty/long toe nails, omg I'm going to gag just writing about it LOL!

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

I agree that feet need special care. They can be horrible if not properly treated. But in a way, if the feet are lovely, that makes a statement about the person as well, so there is that other element that adds to the allure. :o)

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

Feet are cute.

What I especially don't understand is when people are disgusted by their own feet. It seems like such an arbitrary body part to loathe. And they always say, "Oh, feet are disgusting!" like it's an unspoken law of the universe that all feet are just gross.

I suppose it could be because sometimes feet sweat and thus sometimes smell. But still. That doesn't explain why feet are so repulsive to some people.

Breasts and asses and legs are just as arbitrary, in my view, as feet when it comes to body parts to which people are attracted. So it doesn't strike me as odd when people like feet. Unless that is the sole (no pun intended) means by which they can achieve erotic satisfaction, in which case the fact of the fetish itself, rather than the specific manifestation of the fetish (i.e., it's more about them having this ONE THING that they can't get off without than it is about it being feet or spanking or whatever) is the interesting thing. So I am less perplexed when people LIKE feet than I am when they have a strong DISLIKE for them.

Seriously, they're just feet, people.

[elysiangirl.livejournal.com]

good point!

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

That's just so logical! Who would expect any logic in a discussion of body part interest? Not me, that's for sure!

Actually, though, they say that when someone claims to have a vehement dislike for something and a visceral reaction to it, it subconsciously means they really love and crave it. So, the people who have that strong dislike are probably more about the subject than the openly interested ones...

Just another something to think about.

[sybilhawthorne.livejournal.com]

there is FootNight that happens out here. it is a night where guys come just to worship feet. i signed up, because hell ... if i can make money just by some guy touching my feet, i'm all for that.

i knew a guy who just loved feet. he would rub mine all the time. i don't really get it, but it doesn't creep me out. i take foot shots all the time on my cam, just for those guys.

i do find it odd that so many men love feet, but you rarely ever hear about women who are in love with feet.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

D! Most people pay to get a foot massage. You found a way to get paid to get one! Actually, I've heard of these evenings, though I've never attended one. I don't think I would, either. Not because I'm grossed out or anything, but if it's just some random person, I would just have to ask why.

I really think this relates to the visual and how guys are connected to seeing things as attractive. Women just don't care quite as much in that way. And really, that's good, because the stuff guys have ain't all that purdy!

[styletax.livejournal.com]

Hehe, this is an interesting way to start to join in on your journal, but glad to be here. :) I don't mind feet and am usually barefoot myself. Because in Japan you take off your shoes so very much, it's important to have clean socks all of the time - you never know when you could be required to take off your shoes and sit in the midst of others, and having a nasty sock would be embarassing.

A friend of mine hates feet and toes because they remind her of some strange malformed hand. She hated them either more when I told her that the Japanese word for toe (足指 ashiyubi) is roughly translated as "foot finger."

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Hi! And a modest welcome. Come on in, take your shoes off and stay awhile! ;o)

You certainly must have a unique view of this topic, having spent a lot of time in the Far East. I think everything in Japan is about order and ritual, so it doesn't surprise me that clean socks are a part of the order.

Hands and feet do relate to each other, some have toes that are more like fingers. Some people who were born without arms and use their feet like hands have developed them in such a way that they do resemble hands.

Foot finger makes perfect sense!

[xqjennaqx.livejournal.com]

The longer, closer shot of Uma's feet in Kill Bill is a bit more revealing. She's got those high-heel abused model feet. Not pretty at all.

Otherwise, I don't have much to add. Feet don't tickle my fancy, but they don't gross me out (in general) either.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Personally, I don't like Uma's feet at all, even when perfectly unharmed. But Quentin seems to enjoy them.

Feet are just another way to be attractive. I actually have pretty good looking feet myself. But nobody wants to see boy feet.

[annamaryse.livejournal.com]

We know a woman with a website who frequently posts photo sessions featuring her feet....

People want pictures of them! Now, this is not at all unusual in such circles but people mail-order for pairs of sox she's worn... unwashed... they pay for them. Word.