# Toe Cleavage: the new reason to feel inferior... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707 "2003-06-23T05:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/21 "2003-06-23T22:37:48Z")
Not only are my feet calloused, and my heels are so rough even a pumice stone doesn’t really help, I’ve got webbed toes! Well, not completely, just my second and third toes are joined together for most of their length on my right foot and only a little bit on my left. Most people don’t even notice when I’m wearing sandals, and those who do think it’s cool. I agree with them.😛 I wouldn’t even consider getting my toes separated, let alone shortened or anything else. ---
**Author:** ![80sHairMetalMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ed655f/32.png) [@80sHairMetalMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/80sHairMetalMaven)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/22 "2003-06-23T23:05:49Z")
**Jul** –that IS cool. 😃 And for the rest of you: FIGHT THE POWER! Stop getting those expensive pedicures! Don’t paint your toenails! Let your heels get a teeny bit rough! FIGHT SISTAHS!😃 IDBB ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/23 "2003-06-23T23:40:28Z")
You know, we’ve all been ignoring that high heels thing . THOSE are the torture devices of the damned. I can’t even blame my bunion on them – I got it when I was 14, before my mom even let me wear LOW heels – but have learned over the years that they are the single biggest cause of foot pain, and by extension whole body pain, ever invented. At least it keeps me from ever being a streetwalker: I could NOT wear the shoes. ---
**Author:** ![80sHairMetalMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ed655f/32.png) [@80sHairMetalMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/80sHairMetalMaven)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/24 "2003-06-23T23:50:39Z")
**MamaTiger** –I agree. Because of my complete lack of an arch in my foot, I can’t wear even a LOW heel for more than a couple of hours without being in severe foot and lower back pain. I think the last time I wore heels I had to wear them for many, many hours (because of sister-in-law’s wedding reception-that-refused-to-end) and when I finally was able to take off my shoes, my feet swelled up in gratitude for not having to be forced into a tiny pair of shoes anylonger. IDBB ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/25 "2003-06-24T00:01:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferret Herder \* > \*\*…“toe cleavage” isn’t a new concept. In fact, I thought I read a debate here about whether shoes displaying it are appropriate for office wear. \*\* I know it’s not a new concept - I remember reading about it back in the days when I had to wear “business attire” to work, and that’s been over 10 years ago. I remember noticing that I had a few pair of pumps that did show “toe cleavage”, and wondering if my manager would give me any trouble about it. Never happened. Nowadays I wear Teva sandals to work in the summer - makes the whole “toe cleavage” issue moot. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/26 "2003-06-24T00:32:21Z")
Toenail polish, toe rings, anklets, pumice stones, lotions? All of these things are nice and your feet will appreciate them. Having a piece of your friggin body hacked off just so you can wear an overpriced pair of designer shoes? Just plain crazy. ---
**Author:** ![\_ceQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b9bd4f/32.png) [@\_ceQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ceQueen)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/27 "2003-06-24T00:49:16Z")
Women’s shoes are designed by misogynists. I am looking for a good comfortable pair for a while now, and can’t find one. When I go to the shoe store and look at shoes I get the distinct impression that the shoe designers have never seen **feet**. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/28 "2003-06-24T01:12:44Z")
If you don’t wear heels, then you have the fun of trying to find dress shoes that don’t have them. I’ve been told by doctors to not wear them, for several perfectly valid reasons. I don’t wear dress shoes much, but finding flats is a pain. Finding size 5s is also a pain. Depending on the shoe, I wear anything form a 5 to a 6. I like a 6 in dress shoes because then my toes don’t get squished. I don’t like squished toes at all, no matter how good it’s supposed to look. Owie. I think cosmetic TOE surgery is a bit much, and this is coming from somebody who had major plastic surgery for medical reasons that also had some great aesthetic side effects. Feet HURT. You don’t want surgery on those unless you need it! It sounds almost as useless, if not more, than the surgeons who will re-virginize you… …as if I’d ever want to do THAT again! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/29 "2003-06-24T01:15:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > Now, hey there, **Broomstick.** I frequently have polish on my toenails but I very rarely wear fingernail polish. Polish on your toes lasts a lot longer than it does on your fingers… and anyway I consider my hands very functional, but my toes are allowed to be silly and purely aesthetic. > > Plus I have cute feet, and I like to show 'em off. Well, OK, we’ll make an exception for your cute feet. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/30 "2003-06-24T01:17:30Z")
I didn’t have foot surgery, but I’ve heard all too much about **Mama Tiger’s** – too much only because her foot has caused her a LOT of pain and I don’t like that! ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/31 "2003-06-24T01:52:58Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by little_bit \* > \*\*If that’s the case… > > Just how often should the average man shave his entire body? > > 😉 \*\* Since I am blessed with almost zero body hair, I’d have to not long at all 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Magic8ball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Miss\_Magic8ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Magic8ball)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/32 "2003-06-24T21:17:34Z")
Heh. Well, my feet aren’t huge, BUT I have this thing where I can’t help but stubb my toe, or step on a nail, or any other such wonderful thing as that. My feet are not pretty. They’re not ugly, but they’re not pretty, either. They are full of scars(I got at least 35 stiches between the 2 feet…as I said, I run into thing alot) and I have a toe ring that won’t come off. My soles are almost half a centimetre thick; I can walk on gravel, no problem. I wear nailpolish on my toenails, though. A really really dark red. That way you look at the toenails and not the actual toes. Plus, my pinky toes are a weird and fat and squished up against my ring toes. Of course, The last time I wore high heels was for my antie **gingerofthenorth’s** wedding that was almost… hmmm… 11 months ago. I only ever wear shoes if I’m at school or its winter. I go barefoot as much as I’m able. I dislike shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/33 "2003-06-24T21:55:51Z")
I hate shoes too. I go barefoot a lot, and my soles are very thick. I wear flip-flops almost all the time, but at work I wear either tennis shoes (in the winter) or sandals. Even though my toes are UGLY! My toenails really. I have a yellowed thick big toenail that is ingrown on both sides, which is why I hate shoes in the first place. But it looks much better polished, so I do that sometimes. Someday I’ll have surgery again to get rid of the ingrown toenail. The first time it didn’t take on the right big toe. But it hurts!!! So does the ingrown toenail, though…oh well. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/34 "2003-06-26T08:10:13Z")
Audrey Levins – we’re separated at birth. With my life, a manicure lasts about four minutes, but a pedicure means at least one part of me is perfect for at least a week. Jenaroph – the second toe is supposed to be longer than the big toe. That’s the “normal” foot shape. Check an anatomy drawing. Like other body parts, though, footsies don’t always look like a sketch… dig Bad boys – why do you have hideous soles and heels from going barefoot? Going barefoot is good for your feet. (Unless you’re doing barefoot ballet on concrete or something brutal like that….) JulKatBo – Blues Brother Dan Akroyd had webbed toes! [http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elwood/film.html](http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elwood/film.html) ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/35 "2003-06-26T08:12:02Z")
\*member of the patirarchy rubs his hands together in a fit of evil represing glee. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/36 "2003-06-26T12:07:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JulKatBo \* > \*\*I’ve got webbed toes! Well, not completely, just my second and third toes are joined together for most of their length on my right foot and only a little bit on my left. \*\* Hey, me too! When I was 10 my mom bought me those little toe socks for Christmas. When I brought to her attention that I couldn’t wear them at all, she was unable to figure out what she’d been thinking when she bought them. I’ve been looking at my mutant feet for my whole life - **normal** toes still look kinda weird to me. So I definitely don’t play a bit of attention to PROPER TOE CLEAVAGE. ---
**Author:** ![80sHairMetalMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ed655f/32.png) [@80sHairMetalMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/80sHairMetalMaven)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/37 "2003-06-26T13:39:15Z")
**j.c.** –I have hideous soles from years of walking on concrete, street pavement, gravel, you name it I’ve probably walked on it barefoot (except broken glass and hot coals). Last year, as a matter of fact, I was walking back from the pool (about 3 blocks) and didn’t bother to wear shoes. No big deal I thought, I’ll just walk on the sidewalk and not the asphalt. My soles are SO thick that I didn’t even realized I’d scorched them to the point of causing blisters from the heat until I got home and felt something wierd on the bottom of my foot. IDBB ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/38 "2003-06-26T20:40:24Z")
As someone with a wide foot I sympathize, my little toe is all scrunched up from years of shoes designed for mutant stick feet and I’m a guy! Fight the power! Fight the stick-footed facists of the shoe establishment! ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/39 "2003-06-26T21:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > **…Jenaroph – the second toe is supposed to be longer than the big toe. That’s the “normal” foot shape. Check an anatomy drawing. Like other body parts, though, footsies don’t always look like a sketch…** Neither is the supposed shape…in fact I think it’s only about 30% of the people that have them. I don’t know which is more practical, (but I do know which I find more sexy). According to this [sports medicine definition](http://georgiadogs.ocsn.com/administration/sports_medicine/dictionary.shtml): Morton’s Toe - A hereditary condition in which the second toe is larger than the first toe. this can cause mechanical imbalances which produce pain with weight bearing ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707/40 "2003-06-26T23:02:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > \*\*Hey, me too! When I was 10 my mom bought me those little toe socks for Christmas. When I brought to her attention that I couldn’t wear them at all, she was unable to figure out what she’d been thinking when she bought them. > > I’ve been looking at my mutant feet for my whole life - **normal** toes still look kinda weird to me. So I definitely don’t play a bit of attention to PROPER TOE CLEAVAGE. \*\* Cool! At least I never had to worry about my mom getting me a present like that, since her toes are webbed too. And I know what you mean about normal toes looking kinda weird. Freaks of the SDMB unite!🙂 **j.c.** , thanks, I hadn’t heard that about Dan Ackroyd before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-cleavage-the-new-reason-to-feel-inferior/183707.md?page=3)