The Art of Denial: Bare Feet May Be Offensive to Some People

Throughout my barefooting adventures, I've had a very pleasant experience overall. I've visited numerous retailers unshod without issue and have attended gatherings with family and friends without too many snarky remarks in good fun.

But this last weekend that changed. I was approached by staff at two different establishments and instructed that I needed to wear "shoes."

The first was at my local Walmart. This surprised me because I'd gone in there probably two dozen times totally barefoot and never had an issue. The greeters never said anything to me and no employees ever approached me requesting that I put on footwear. Then I entered the Garden Center entrance. I didn't make it past the bank of registers when a cashier there said I needed shoes. After I asked why, she tried to tell me that it was a "policy" of Walmart's. I told her that I'd been in there more than a dozen times barefoot and that nothing was posted prohibiting bare feet. She said to me that it's posted at the store's main entrances, but I quickly retorted that it's not -- I've looked. To move on past her, and because we had some quick shopping to do, I put on my emergency flip flops (which, oddly enough, I carried in with me for only the first time). After leaving the Garden Center and getting to the section of store in which we needed to shop, I removed my flops and carried on the rest of the trip without incident.

Later on in the weekend we visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City with my brother and his family, who were visiting from out of town. After making it past the "Visitor Services" person (i.e. security guard) at the door, we made our way into the contemporary section of the museum. In the first room another guard approached me and said I'd have to put "shoes" on if I was going to keep looking around. I asked why and was told that it was a "health" issue. I kindly informed the guard that no such health regulations exist. He quickly said he was going to fetch a "supervisor" and walked away. I put my flip flops on and we moved onto the next room of the exhibit. Shortly after that I saw the previous guard with another man who I could only assume was the "supervisor." I motioned him over to me and we had a conversation.

To keep a long story a bit shorter, he informed me that he wouldn't be able to show me before I left their written policy that bare feet aren't allowed but he'd be happy to send it to me later. I asked him why it wasn't posted at the entrance and he informed me that not every policy can be posted. He shared with me that pets aren't allowed but that I didn't see that posted either. I quickly pointed out to him that pets are addressed on the museum Web site, however -- bare feet weren't. I had checked. In the end he tried to tell me that he didn't want to take the risk that other museum goers might be "offended" by me. I held out my hand and asked, "so can someone be offended by that, too?" He said that my claim doesn't follow social "norms." Finally, I reminded him that an art museum's job is often to challenge norms with diverse artwork and that I found it perplexing that their guests weren't allowed to be so diverse. Honestly, if a statue can show its bare feet AND penis (an actual piece at the museum, pictured here), why can't I walk around barefoot?

I'm in the process of writing a letter to the museum sharing my history as a barefooter and asking them to question their policy (or lack thereof). If they choose to reject visitors in bare feet that's certainly their prerogative, but something should be posted.