Flip flops are evil.

It has taken me a long time to reach this conclusion, but I think that finally the truth is clear.

They used to be called "thongs" or "thong sandals," but now they are known as "flip-flops" or "flip-flop sandals."  But whatever your name for them, they are the kind of shoes that are basically nothing but a flat sole and a small strap that goes from between the big and second toes to both sides of the sandal.  They exist for both men and women, but are considerably more popular among women.

I used to think these kinds of shoes were great.  Since most women are not true barefoot girls, the popularity of flip-flops has made it possible to see a lot of women's feet that might otherwise be hidden.  Indeed, there is very little difference in the visibility of a woman's feet when they are bare as opposed to when she is wearing flip-flops.

But there is a difference.  And this distinction is what has finally made it clear to me that flip flops are not a good thing, but are, in fact, a scourge upon our species.

Insidiousness

I used to think that flip-flops were great for two main reasons:

1. They show off a lot of a woman's feet.
   
   For a person like me, a woman's feet are the sexiest part of her body.  In a world where everyone wears shoes, flip-flops were the answer to how I was going to see all that lovely skin without having to wait for the 1-in-10,000 chance encounter with a true barefoot girl.


2. They are the easiest shoes to remove.
   
   It stands to reason that a shoe that is extremely easy to remove is more likely to come off than a shoe that tends to hold itself tightly in place.

Unfortunately, these things led me to become complacent.  I thought, Cool, all these women are now wearing flip-flops.  I can see their feet already, and they might slip their shoes off while they're sitting down or something.  And so I let the evil spread.

And I wasn't the only one to fall victim to this nefariousness.  Even today there are websites devoted to women in flip flops that erroneously claim to show women who are barefoot.

Now, obviously, if a woman has shoes on, she's not barefoot, no matter how much of her foot skin you can see.   But, if flip-flops did not exist, this confusion would not exist either.

The Future At Stake

Just as there were two reasons why I mistakenly believed that flip flops were an okay thing, there are two reasons that have now become obvious to indicate that they are, in fact, an awful thing.

Firstly, despite their ability to provide an appearance similar to that of being barefoot, flip flops are still shoes, and as such they carry with them the same unhealthy effects that all shoes do.  Check out the Barefoot Health page for more information about why shoes are bad and why nobody should be wearing them.

Second, and actually the single most important reason why flip-flops are bad, is this:

Let's take a recent example that finally drove this important point home.

The swim team of a local high school was doing a car wash fundraiser, and I decided to support the cause.  The car wash was held on a sunny Saturday morning.  It was cool because it was in late Winter, but most of the kids were still wearing shorts and T-shirts.

And flip flops.

This disturbed me to the point of being actually angry.  Here they were, dozens of young men and women, whose chosen sport requires them to be barefoot, standing around in puddles of water, and every single one of them had shoes on.  Every single one.  Not one child was barefoot.

I really wanted to say something to the parents who were there.  "How can you be allowing your children to wear those awful shoes when they should be enjoying themselves, splashing around in the puddles and experiencing the sensations of the wet grass, the damp cement and the cool pavement?"

"Why don't you set an example and take your own shoes off?" I wanted to say.

But I don't think it would have made sense to them.

And yet, how could it not make sense?  With puddles deeper than the sole of any flip-flop, the kids were basically all standing in the water anyway.  And because the ground was all covered with water, there was no chance of it being uncomfortably hot to stand on.  There was absolutely no reason for any of those kids to be wearing shoes.  And yet, every one of them was.

I was heartbroken.

If our youth are being taught that they should wear shoes, even when they have absolutely no reason or excuse to, what hope do we have?

Uphill Battle

While this information does seem discouraging, to me it only serves as motivation to strengthen the fight.  In America, we have The Right to Bare Feet!  Our children deserve to enjoy that freedom!  We need to raise a generation that knows that shoes are optional.  At worst, a necessary evil to be used only in certain circumstances and, at best, something to be avoided whenever possible, which is almost always.

If you agree with me that the world needs to change, and people need to just stop wearing shoes, then visit the Join the Cause page and learn how you can help me to change people's attitudes in the ways that actually work.

Continue on to read the truth about Going Barefoot in Restaurants.

Return from Flip Flops to The Barefoot Truth.

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