“Here comes the lady. O, so light a foot Will ne’er wear out the everlasting flint.”(1)In ancient Greece, feet were associated with love and desire. Evidence of that abounds in literature and art. And the foot, left it’s erotic imprint to our days.
Look at a person’s shoes, and at a person’s feet. They will tell you a lot about how that person feels and acts about eroticism, desire, and love.
I’m not talking about feet fetishism. I’m talking about body language.
The feet of Aphrodite give rise to new grass when she first steps on land, accompanied by Eros.“And the prettiest foot! Oh, if a man could but fasten his eyes to her feet, as they steal in and out, and play at bo-beep under her petticoats!”(2)
So… what’s the deal with feet in SL?
I have seen things in this virtual world that go beyond my wildest imagination. Prim wizards make unbelievable shapes come to life. And they keep getting better. So I asked myself: how come our avatar’s feet look like they have been crushed by a Caterpillar? Why are the toes glued together and look like teeth? Why can our avatars have quite interesting hands…that hold things and wear rings… but our feet only look well with shoes on? And sometimes… not even that.
Is it such an impossible enterprise? Maybe it is… I don’t know. But I have the feeling that the subject has been neglected.
Forgive me for being suspicious… but is our collective mind repressing unwanted contents and pushing them into the unconscious? That happens in RL too. And feet are so far away from our heads that they seem perfect to be considered symbolical dumpsters.
As I started to ask and snoop around in search for answers, I came across the existence of JB Gazov, a Japanese shoe designer that should be considered the Manolo Blahnik of Second Life.Not so much for the shoe designs, but for the fact that he managed to make our toes look so pretty when we wear them. And they have toe rings if you want to, and different nail polish colors. Cyber Gods bless him.
But there’s a flip side: you have to wear the shoes.If you go around with bare feet, they will still look like tortured appendixes of the rest of our carefully groomed avis.
And he is not making shoes for guys. It’s understandable. He would have to make sandals, greek style.You must agree: avi’s feet are such a turn off.
As a matter of fact… I hardly take my shoes off. Even when I’m swimming. Or even when… you know… (Thank God my bf finds pumps to be quite sexy).
I want my avatar to have pretty feet. I want luscious red nail polish for my toe nails, without shoes.
It’s a pity, in a world where everybody can dance like Fred Astaire, to have such silly crooked feet.
It’s a dare. Will someone join JB Gazov in his search for a solution? Will anyone meet the challenge?
I know he keeps trying. And at least, with shoes on, my toes look lovely.
“But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread them softly because you tread on my dreams.” (3)
We need nice feet for that. Nice, soft, bare feet for that.
Covadonga Writer
(1) William Shakespeare. (Romeo and Juliet)
(2) William Congreve. (Love for Love)
(3) William Butler Yeats (A Quote)
