Posts Tagged ‘misconception’
My Take on Minimalist Footwear
From left to right: Hand-made Huaraches, Vibram FiveFingers Sprint, Vivo Barefoot Runners.
In recent years, there has been quite a bit of development of the so-called “minimalist footwear”. While the definition of minimalist footwear tends to vary from user to user and from manufacturer to manufacturer, basically, any type of footwear that is designed to simulate, as close as possible, the experience of going barefooted by still providing an acceptable amount of insulation and protection from the environment (at least part, usually the soles) can fall into the category of “minimalist”.
Shoddies simply don’t care…
I recently had a very interesting, and somewhat disturbing exchange with a friend of my partner’s, who happens to be a nurse and has also been training for a running competition. While I have always known this person has never been supportive of my barefooting lifestyle, I never thought she would be so closed to new information.
National Barefoot Week – is it, really?
June 1-7 has been, once again, declared “National Barefoot Week” by Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based charity that collects new and used shoes to be donated to people in need around the world. The week-long event is a yearly highlight the charity uses to encourage people to get involved in donating any type of footwear to be re-distributed in the US and other places where people might need it.
It’s Earth Day – Go Barefoot!
Today, we’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day; which was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1070 to raise awareness about environmental issues around our planet.
Personally, I like to think of Earth Day as an opportunity to reflect on my relationship with planet and the impact we, human beings, are creating on a daily basis – especially in developed and developing areas; which are growing exponentially every year.
There’s a Lot of Assuming Going On!
After nearly 20 years of leading a predominantly barefoot lifestyle, I keep being amazed by the amount of common assumptions “shoddies” (people who don’t like going barefoot and prefer to be in shoes most of the time) make about us barefooters. What I find most interesting is that all shoddies seem to make the same assumptions over and over; even the ones that claim “Oh, I used to spend entire summers barefoot as a kid”.
This, sadly, goes to show how misinformed we are as a society and how generalized these misconceptions are – even among health professionals and other “experts” such as sports trainers and traditional footwear designers; as well as individuals in positions of authority like police officers, security guards, establishment managers and corporation executives, just to mention a few. Additionally and unfortunately, here in North America, the association of bare feet with lack of education, destitution, and the hippie sub-culture is still very predominant. Therefore, we barefooters face a series of social challenges on a daily basis which make our desire to lead a “normal” barefoot lifestyle rather frustrating at times.
