#68926 Feet

[C is for]

I just want to talk about this. One line mostly. Hopefully people that actually go to BYU can help me (I just live in Provo, I don't actually spend time there).

I am having a hard time controlling my feelings [compared to usual], especially now that girls are wearing less and less.

Are more people wearing flip-flops now than there were before?

I always just kind of thought that basically everyone wore them all summer. (I don't, but I also only wear long sleeves so I don't distract men with my admittedly lovely elbows.)

Or is there a trend for like those bead things that go across the top of your foot but that's about all the shoe there is? (I don't know what they're called. I just see them on Pinterest.) Because that would certainly qualify as "less and less" than flip-flops.

I'm confused. But I also am in Being Nice's camp (oh, and also The Detective, because that was an AWESOME suggestion) so don't be mean. Just help me with BYU footwear fashion trends.

[Fredjikrang]

I haven't noticed any differences. But then again, I really don't much care about what footwear someone is wearing.

(Although my math teacher does wear flip-flops. So, there is that.)

[Zedability]

I have to wear steel-toed shoes to work every day this summer, so I have no idea what people usually wear during the summertime.

[mic0]

When I worked at BYU, we always had to wear closed-toe shoes, so I'm pretty sure a huge percentage of student employees are still not wearing flip-flops.

[Craig Jessop]

I just hope that my brother and I aren't the only ones sitting here laughing about this question. I lost any sort of idea that it is a serious question when he called flip flops "immodest footwear." (Though if he had called them thongs, I would be inclined to agree.)

[mic0]

Believe it or not, it was a serious question. Poor guy.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

All I could think of was Mr. Deeds.

"...I like feet."

[TheAnswerIs42]

Believe it or not, it was a serious question. Poor guy.

How do you know? My first reaction was "this is a joke", but then I had to go with "what if this guy is serious?" I'm just curious how you know for sure.

[mic0]

The one comment pending? It's from him, and he's annoyed apparently. (This is all I know!)

[Craig Jessop]

I still don't know if I believe it. Unless the comment is somehow super sincere in tone, I just can't believe that the same person who thinks that footwear can really be immodest is serious. (provocative? maybe. m.a.y.b.e.)

[Zedability]

Aw, that makes me feel bad. I was all set to write a rather sympathetic answer, but I was told to not feed the troll :/ I was all jetlagged and had already missed the sarcasm in a bunch of things people had said to me, so I decided to assume I was just missing the joke. Dang.

I think it's believable. Honestly, if you substitute "feet" for "shoulders" or "cleaveage" or something, the question sounds a lot more reasonable than 99% of modesty questions I've seen on The Board or the Daily Universe. Like, sure he wishes girls would wear more "modest" footwear, but he also recognizes he can't avoid it and needs to control his own feelings, which is more than I can say for some people on campus who get disturbed by the sight of a kneecap.

[mic0]

who get disturbed by the sight of a kneecap.

I don't know why that sounds so funny. Kneecaps in general are just funny.

Annnyway, C is for, I wonder if the person considers gladiator sandals on the same level as flip flops, because those are certainly "in" right now.

[Zedability]

Also, The Detective's answer made me laugh, because I'm pretty sure this is the first time where "You should go to BYU-I instead" makes sense as a serious answer that's actually good advice

[NerdGirl]

I too am shocked that this was a serious question.

[TheAnswerIs42]

Yeah, I think a missing element for this to have been seen as serious was a sentence like "I know most guys don't care about women's feet, but . . .". Instead, he mentions that "studies have shown that a foot fetish is one of the most common fetishes" and blames the women for not understanding that. I'm glad he's asking about what he can do about the situation rather than saying all women should never show their feet ever, but I'm not going to cover up something innocent just because one random guy has a problem with it. What if someone out there has issued seeing women's eyes? (Of course, I wear bikinis when on vacation with just my husband, so maybe I'm too much of a "sinner" to be worried about it anymore.) All in all, it really did come across like a parody of a DU letter to the editor.

[Laser Jock]

Maybe my satire detector needs to be checked or something, but I honestly can't believe that this question wasn't mocking people who write similar questions (or letters to the DU) about other things (usually low-cut or sleeveless tops). And I wasn't even one of the ones who answered it. The satire is just so perfect.

Maybe the comment (if it's published) will shed some more light, though.

[Zedability]

Well, I knew a guy who had kind of a thing for feet, although it wasn't to the level of a full-blown fetish that he found problematic. So I guess I came into it already thinking, "Yeah, this is possible."

I think the reason it seems so much like a satire is because temptation really is the same no matter what it's about, and the human reaction is really remarkably similar. (I suppose it still is possible that it's a satire, though.)

The satire/real life reminds me a bit of my freshman roommate. For the sake of my own sanity, I prefer to believe that those 8 months were all a long, elaborate, life-as-art joke played on me that I didn't pick up on. She was just the perfect satire of the Molly Mormon from Happy Valley. I can't even count the number of times I thought, nobody's really THAT naive, right?

[NerdGirl]

Is it bad that I'm way excited to see the comment?

[Zedability]

I remember feeling like this during the Great Modesty Debate on the Board a few years ago.

[Eirene]

I actually came here just to see if Laser Jock and I were the only ones who were convinced that it was satire. It is just too ridiculous and waaay too perfect an imitation of all the exposed-clavicle indignation from a few years ago not to be satire. Even with an indignant comment, I'm still not sure if I can convince myself that it's real!