Barefooting Bulletin Board

I asked this question on the SBL list, but I thought I'd ask again here for those who may not be a member of the list. What are we doing to improve our standing in society? Personally, I joined the list to add my voice to an activist group, but the list seems more like a support group to me. We know there are no laws against us, but we also have no laws supporting us. We need ideas for how to spread the truth about barefooting to overcome all the stupidity surrounding the issue.

We know it's not un-hygienic, how do we get that message out there?

We know it's not any more dangerous than not wearing gloves or safety glasses, how do we show that?

We need positive role models, not nutcases shouting "fraud!" in crowded restaurants. We need business owners, respected professionals, and popular celebrities to stand up and be counted among the barefoot masses.

We need ideas. Let's get our brains in gear and figure out how to acheive our goal instead of whining about how nobody likes us. There are plenty of other groups just as small as us who have accomplished quite a bit, we need to look at how they did it.

Couldn't find a forum this fit exactly, but it does seem to go with the topic of activism. I sent this little note to Genevieve Gorder via the Discovery website.

As a member of the Society for Barefoot Living I would like to thank you for showing that kicking off your shoes is perfectly acceptable and not merely a behavior engaged in by freaks and homeless people. Don't let the apparent media obsession with your unshod ways dissuade you from being who you are. There are quite a few of us out here who wish more celebrities would stand up and be counted among those who prefer the comfort of the footwear we were born with. We need more positive role models. We're rooting for you.

Maybe a little encouragement from someone combined with the knowledge that she is not alone will give her the added courage to stand tall when questioned about her shoeless tendencies. I know I felt like an outcast before I found the SBL and discovered all the pro-'foot resources.

Here's an idea for a subtle form of activism. Those of us who are members of other forums can make our barefoot tendencies known in our signatures and include a couple links to this forum, the SBL list, and other 'foot sites. There may be a lot of people out there (like I used to be) who have no idea being barefoot is both legal and acceptable. All it would take is a little nudge to get them to toss their shoes. Anything we can do to grow our numbers is worth looking into.


I decided to take my own advice. I changed my signature on the only other forum I'm a member of.

Shoes are evil, free your feet from oppression!

I included a link to this forum's index.

I'm back, adding another post to my pet thread

I've been searching the 'net and Yahoo Groups looking for whatever barefoot sites I can find. Where possible I've been adding a link to this board to draw in new members. The goal is to give barefooters from everywhere a place to discuss the lifestyle and ideas for gaining mainstream acceptance. Right now barefooters are living in isolated little cyber-tribes. If we can band together in a large enough group we will have a voice and can stand up for our rights.

Here's another activist idea. Make a reservation for a large group at a local restaurant. Then have everybody show up barefoot and see if they refuse to serve you. If you make it obvious it's a club activity by wearing T-shirts or something it may be even harder for them to turn away business. It could be especially effective if you do it on a normally slow night when they could use the extra business. If they did let in a whole group it would be nearly impossible for them to turn away barefoot customers afterwards. Not only that, other customers would see barefooters in a group and might possibly be swayed to join our ranks.