# What's the deal with 'barefoot' women?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 19, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352 "2000-12-19T15:20:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/1 "2000-12-19T15:20:17Z")

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We’ve heard the phrase “barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.”

I understand the symbolism for items #2 and #3, but why “barefoot?”

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**Author:** ![racerx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5e9695/32.png) [@racerx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racerx)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/2 "2000-12-19T15:26:50Z")

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maybe it refers to being poor? thats what i’ve always thought. or is it difficult for pregnant woment to put on socks and shoes?

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/3 "2000-12-19T15:26:54Z")

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So they can’t leave the house that easily, presumably.

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/4 "2000-12-19T15:27:51Z")

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So she can’t leave the house. Which, I suppose, is implied by keeping her in the kitchen. But dang it all, I can’t watch her every second of the day!

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**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/5 "2000-12-19T15:29:06Z")

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[WAG]

1. To poor to afford shoes.
2. Trapped in the house (Where are you going to go barefoot?).  
[/WAG]

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/6 "2000-12-19T15:30:02Z")

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Feet tend to swell when women are pregnant so it can be more comfortable to skip the shoes. Also, the saying helps you form a nice mental image: A housewife with a big fat belly, curlers in the hair, a moo-moo and dirty no-shoed feet.

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**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/7 "2000-12-19T15:43:34Z")

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The way I used to hear it was “Keep em pregnant in the summer and barefoot in the winter”. The idea was that it would then be difficult for them to stray.

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-barefoot-women/46352/8 "2000-12-19T16:20:41Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mavpace \*  
> \*\*A housewife with a big fat belly, curlers in the hair, a moo-moo and dirty no-shoed feet. \*\*

It’s “muu-muu”, although I appreciate the descriptive power of your version :D.