Flickr posted about this event:
I think it's nice from what I read from above, but it becomes little weird when you view the group's pool:
Probably nearly half of them are focusing on the feet or adding artistic factor on feet. So I looked into One Day Without Shoes (ODWS) website:
I don't think people who check out the group's pool would understand what awareness that ODWS is supposed to raise, even most of those people who add those photos have ever tried to understand what it is all about, I suspect. Or they just want to put their bare foot photos into that group.
Most of them are great photos as in no shoes on, but not about ODWS at all. And to be honest, though I really don't want to say this, but that pool looks more like foot fetish's heaven.
Just a friendly reminder if you want to participate, watch out the ground ahead, you don't want to step on something you shouldn't.
TOMS Shoes is raising awareness about the impact shoes can have in a child’s life and asking you to share a photo of you without shoes in their One Day Without Shoes 2012 Group.
I think it's nice from what I read from above, but it becomes little weird when you view the group's pool:
Probably nearly half of them are focusing on the feet or adding artistic factor on feet. So I looked into One Day Without Shoes (ODWS) website:
What is One Day Without Shoes?The day we spread awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child’s life by taking off our own. Why? Millions of children live without proper footwear, exposing them to injury and disease every day.
I don't think people who check out the group's pool would understand what awareness that ODWS is supposed to raise, even most of those people who add those photos have ever tried to understand what it is all about, I suspect. Or they just want to put their bare foot photos into that group.
Most of them are great photos as in no shoes on, but not about ODWS at all. And to be honest, though I really don't want to say this, but that pool looks more like foot fetish's heaven.
Just a friendly reminder if you want to participate, watch out the ground ahead, you don't want to step on something you shouldn't.
OK, you see problems. One is that the pictures of happy people walking barefoot on the beach and so on does not really relate to the problem of poor kids without shoes. Agreed. The other one you mention is that those pictures are 'foot fetish'. On this I do not agree, although in the Western world there is a strange tendency to regard bare feet as strange or even sexual....(and even nudists tend to keep their shoes on). But anayway, it's in the eye of the beholder, right?
ReplyDeleteThe third problem is something you don't mention: kids going barefoot is not by definition a problem. In fact, often it is much healthier for the feet to use them intensively. For instance, many of the great runners from Kenia and Ethiopia grew up barefoot. You might even say that the human foot is made for going barefoot ;) and is well equipped for that! Of course unless the enviroment is too hostile: pointy rocks, glowing hot desert sands, cold climates or dangerous work in factories, construction and so on, in those cases shoes are indeed much needed.
First of all, thanks for the nice comment, this is something I would like to read from commenter.
ReplyDeleteI
have to clarify that I didn't say those photos are foot fetish, but
"pool looks more like foot fetish's heaven." There is a huge difference
between them and you need to understand I suspect people don't
understand the story behind ODWS as I stated in the post, therefore the
pool looks more like foot fetish's heaven because the propose of the
group isn't understood. There is no way that I say or imply those photo are foot fetish.
And as you said "it's in the eye of the beholder," when a foot fetish sees, they see the heaven; when a person who doesn't know anything about foot fetish, he or she only see feet and nothing more.
I have no intention to associate that group with foot fetish, but that's a fact as I said "heaven." What I see are feet but I also know what foot fetish is, that's why I brought it up. By the way, foot fetish isn't just in Western world.
The third problem is a great point, human body is built for that, but you need to be little more careful when you decide to go barefoot nowadays.