I don’t think it has anything to do with low vs high-maintenance. This is one of those questions where the answer is so incredibly obvious.
It’s cold in the winter so (most) women don’t wear sandals. That’s the answer right there, the fact that the OP couldn’t figure that out is what is surprising.
The OP realizes there is a relationship between sandals in summer and boots in winter. 
Oh come. It isn’t a “simplest question” at all.
Why do women in this culture put enamel on their toenails?
Why do men in this culture want them to?
Why do women in this culture not put enamel on their toenails when no one can see it?
Why do men in this culture become puzzled by women who don’t put enamel on their toenails when no one can see it?
Every one of these is implied in the OP. Not a single one has a simple answer.
Carrion just reminds me of other carrion. Not nostalgic about carrion really.
I’ve been called many things, but believe me, low maintenance has never been one of them.
Wow. It’s “really picky” to find a difference between not caring about your appearance, and caring about it based on your own needs and preferences?
Oh poo, the original question was simple, and those extrapolations are pretty simple, too. But as **LSLGuy **pointed out, people here will take exception to, overanalyze, and argue about anything. It’s part of what keeps the place going.
I think this OP has also pushed some buttons because times are changing. The world is different now. It’s becoming less OK for men to state that they look at women in public, especially when the looking also consists of judging women’s body parts and their upkeep. Feet are commonly fetishized.
OP, nobody cares about your stupid boner.
I am just pointing out that a woman painting her toe nails is a cultural act, and there aren’t any simple cultural acts.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
I think the second is pretty simple. People, including men, like it when others make efforts toward being presentable, if not necessarily attractive toward others. Doing so demonstrates an awareness one is part of the group and is making efforts to conform to the standards of the group. For better or worse (I vote “worse”) enameling toenails is a relatively common grooming practice.
The other three are more interesting questions.
That’s the nub.
Different women decorate themselves to differing degrees for differing reasons. Men decorate themselves too, but generally less so in more subtle ways. The decorations themselves and the gender differences are culturally determined and almost entirely arbitrary.
A bunch of the decorating is intended to impress the opposite sex. Or to compete with your own sex in impressing the opposite sex. But it’s now increasingly unacceptable to say that in public.
Maybe the fundy Islamics are right: Burqas for all: female *and *male.
The male gaze is alive and well. And not just in film and literature. Seriously, is it really controversial that many women choose not to paint their toenails when the weather is cold? Or (shock horror) at all? Should this choice really depend on the reactions of the male viewer? “Oh, no, a man might see my unsexy toes! I must remedy the situation immediately!”
Is the OP talking about bare toes, or toes where the polish has grown out but not been removed. Because I can almost agree that the latter looks a little unsightly. Of course, my toes have grown out, scratched up polish on them right now. Every time I go to yoga, I think, “Geez, I really should take that off.” Then I put my socks back on and totally forget about it till the next class…
This^
IMO the (charitable) reading is “If a woman cares to decorate, how come she doesn’t care to either maintain or remove her worn-out decorations? Unkempt decorations are less flattering than none at all. Both for any audience, intended or otherwise, and for the person herself as well.”
I suppose an obvious male equivalent might be a man wearing a suit & tie coming straight from work to the bar / restaurant and by 9pm his tie is loose around his neck and the tail is hanging askew over one shoulder. Dude? Really? Just take it off and stick it in your pocket. It’s not adding class. Rather the opposite you drunken oaf.
Things like a hair dye job sorta have to be maintained or tolerated as it inevitably grows out; it’s hard to remove cleanly. OTOH nail polish isn’t that hard to remove once it’s gotten ratty or the season has ended.
The issue isn’t doing polish or not. It’s choosing to do polish but also choosing to ignore it when it’s become a liability not an asset. That seems inconsistent. OTOH, most of us are better at buying or doing something shiny new than we are at maintaining that same thing, whatever it may be.
That’s a pretty sweeping statement that I don’t think you can really back up. You go to one waterpark one weekend and see how many women with incomplete polish and draw the conclusion that women don’t do any maintenance on their feet in the fall/winter months.
You have to do some sort of nail maintenance during the winter. More, I think. Let’s face it, in sandal weather, I can usually get away with one basic coat a month and do a little touch up weekly on the big toe and next two to keep the chips away. I also exfoliate by touch. But come this time of year and I’m wearing socks and closed toed shoes? Suddenly it MATTERS how long my toenails are. They can get to tree climbing length in the summer, but having my toenails snag on socks or rub on the toe of the shoe? Makes me nuts. If I wear tights, I have to check my toenails to make sure there’s nothing to cause a run. I also tend to put lotion on so they don’t snag.
So color shows more in the summer, but actual foot care and maintenance, I find more important in the fall and winter.
I also swim three times a week and pools are hell on polish. You can go in looking great and leave little nail polish scraps all over the place for the next four hours. It tends to stay on toes better than fingers, but chlorine and salt water are hell on nails.
You probably would have got better answers if you hadn’t added that bit about sexy toes. Finding toes sexy is perfectly fine and mostly normal. Complaining that you looked at a bunch of strangers’ toes and didn’t find any of them sexy is piggish.
Really? Then why is this such a mystery to you?
The dialogue thus far would indicate there are several reasons behind this. Not a simplified as you and a few others want it to be.
Women’s toes, more complex than you’d think.
Don’t get me started on lady fingers.:eek: