With all of the fuss over body shaming, why isn’t anyone talking about naked toe shaming? Don’t toes deserve the same respect as all of the other body parts?? If people shouldn’t be judged for cellulite and belly rolls, then we should also be willing to embrace naked toes.
The origins of nail polish can be traced all the way to China, 3000 BC. In Ancient Egypt, polish color symbolized social status, with the lower class wearing nudes and lighter colors while the high society gals brazenly wore red. Thankfully these days, women are free to choose to adorn their nails with whatever color they desire, regardless of the number of zeros attached to their paycheck.
We are a long way from Ancient Egypt though. The popularity of red nail polish today is attributed to actress Rita Hayworth. When Technicolor movies were introduced, her bold nails sent women everywhere in search of brilliant reds. Uma Thurman’s vamp, or nontraditional colored nails, in Pulp Fiction further changed the color of fingernails nationwide.
By 2012 nail polish sales reached $768 million, and while that is a lot of color, none of this information explains why naked toes are so shameful. And perhaps in your world they are not, but somehow, somewhere, I picked up the notion that toenails were bared in public must always be painted.
Reviewing the mental movie reel running in my mind, I think I must’ve started painting my toes somewhere in my early teens, and never stopped. No one in particular influenced this behavior in me, it just seemed to evolve. Maybe it was Southern summers spent in flip-flops and sandals?? Who knows.
So much did I grow to despise naked toes, that even in winter when most of the time my toes were hidden under socks and closed toe shoes, they generally remained painted. Of course socks and shoes tend to run the polish off, so winter maintenance is probably worse than summer.
I was set free from the burden of naked winter toes when I started running. Keeping one’s toes beautifully polished when putting in the miles is rather difficult. The friction from running is by far worse than just the normal wear and tear produced by socks and shoes. These days, winter shoes and socks bring a welcome reprieve from polished toes.
Summer 2018 I have found myself with completely unadorned toes. The list of why my toes are naked is long and wearisome, but in a nut shell, I’m just too tired, overwhelmed, and blah, blah, blah to care. Well….I do care, kind of, but not enough to actually try and paint my toes.
One would think that I might try to hide my shame in Vans, Converse, ballerina flats or Toms, but nope. My naked toes have been displayed, almost daily, in all their shameful glory, via every color of sandal known to man. Sure, each morning as I walk across campus to my office, I look down at my toes with shame, but then I get over myself and move on with my day.
Want to know the strangest thing of all about my naked toes? Absolutely no one has noticed, or if they have, they’ve been kind enough not to publicly shame me. At any rate, if anyone is interested, I’m totally available for a pedicure!
Until Next Time,
Becky J. Miller
Warrior Princess