Feet

Categories: Feet, Aesthetics, Lookism

''Diana’s breast is charming, brothers,''

''And Flora’s cheek, I quite agree''

''But I prefer above these others''

''The foot of sweet Terpsichore.''

—Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin

==Foot aesthetics==
Straight toes and curved arches are attractive in both sexes. Toes that bend inward are unattractive and may be the result of wearing shoes that are too narrow. It could also be the result of a poor [[gait]]. However, if your feet are the only thing wrong with you, you're not actually an incel.

===Callouses===
Corns and calluses are areas of the foot with thickened skin.

Corns and calluses are caused by the wear and tear of the foot. A lot of people have them at the bottom of the big toe, due to the excessive usage on the big toe when walking. Walking with your feet rotated outward (overpronation) could place excessive pressure on the big toe, resulting in calluses. 

In fact, calluses are common in the medial end of the big toe, which indicates overpronation. When the feet is overpronated, the body's weight is excessively placed on the big toe, while the big toe is at an angle with the medial end toward the ground. The excessive wear and tear of the big toe at the medial end results are the result of calluses there.

To prevent corns and callouses on the big toe, walk with your feet straight. Do not rotate you feet while walking.

===Bunions===
Bunions could be caused by shoes that are too narrow. [[Wolff's Law]] states that the bone will change form when an external source of pressure is placed. When the shoes are too narrow, the bones of the foot will likewise remold to resemble the appearance of a shoe. 

[[High heels]] could exacerbate the development of bunions. High heels forces the feet to slide forward, cramping the toes. Effects include not just bunions, but also corns, calluses and hammer toes (vertically bent toes).

Overpronation (walking with your feet rotated outward) is yet another cause of bunions. When the feet is overpronated, the body's weight is excessively placed on the big toe, while the big toe is at an angle. The bone of the big toe will eventually adapt to the stress and bend inward.

==Female feet==
Smaller feet are generally preferred in women.[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17879647/] They may be preferred for their supposed femininity, due to sexual dimorphism in foot size, or as a neotenous characteristic.[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15971009/] One notable exception to the general preference for smaller feet are the Karo Batak people in Indonesia, who consider women with larger feet more sexually appealing. Locals were presented with drawings of women, identical save for subtle variations in foot size, and asked to rate them on their attractiveness. Both men and women rated the larger-footed women as most attractive and the smaller-footed women as least attractive. One villager was overhead saying: "Why would anyone like a woman with small feet? How would she work in the rice field?". Other cultures exhibiting the same trend include Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania, which may indicate a preference for larger female feet in agricultural societies.[https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=170221]

The preference for smaller feet may not take into account objective shoe size so much as the size of the feet relative to the woman's height. Women wearing shoes too small for them was also considered unappealing.[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312570759_Podolinguistics_a_different_perspective_What_do_men_really_think_about_women%27s_shoes_and_feet]

== Male feet ==
Larger<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17879647/</ref> or average-sized<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15971009/</ref> feet are generally preferred in men. Men can fall into a bad habit of neglecting their feet, but women will appreciate it if you keep them relatively smooth and presentable.

==See Also==

*[[:Category:Aesthetics|List of aesthetics]]

[[Category:Feet| ]]
[[Category:Aesthetics]]
[[Category:Lookism]]
{{Lookism}}