Within the different cultures around the world, shoes carry a lot of meaning, for completely differing reasons, for example, the “shoe-throwing norm” used as a threat in a weaponry form of South Asian discipline, which is deemed offensive and a low blow in the Middle East, but in Chinese culture, it is considered as an act meant to humiliate women.
In the early modern period, a superstitious tradition adopted by homeowners, was to leave shoes hidden in the walls, as a decoy to lure “witches” away from the home and protect their homes against evil.
Different shoes also represent where you are from in the world, like the vibrant mules worn in Morocco, or the handcrafted ‘kuseh’ which represent the cultures of India and Pakistan.
One thing that is universal across all religions and cultures originating from the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and other parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, is the act of “leaving your shoes at the door”.
A customary tradition in the latter cultures, as a form of respect upon entering the home, as well as in places of worship, such as Mosques, Gurdwaras, Temples, and Synagogues.
Even within Bollywood, taking your shoes off before entering the home is normalised within the South Asian culture, as an on-screen depiction of this occurs in the Bollywood box office hit ‘Ghajini’, which became the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, in 2008.
In a flashback scene where Amir Khan plays the character of ‘Sanjay Singhania’, an anterograde amnesia patient, alongside his on-screen fiancé ‘Kalpana Shetty’, take off their shoes, to step into a plaque mould to be used as a memory for their first steps into their new home, before entering barefoot and leaving their shoes outside the door.
Being barefoot is a ritualistic practice by people from Chinese culture, who believe it is good health practice, as it allows your pressure points to be stimulated, and have been practising foot reflexology for over 5,000 years.
Asian Sunday spoke to professional shoe consultant Susannah Davda to see if this cultural custom, of not bringing your shoes inside, transcends the Asian culture.
The British shoe consultant says “I always take my shoes off at the front door of my home and expect my guests to do the same, but not everyone feels this way, and it can feel a little awkward when we enter someone’s home and don’t know whether we should remove our shoes.
“It helps to first look at their feet to see if they are wearing shoes. If they aren’t, take yours off without being asked. If they are, it would still be polite to ask if they prefer you to remove your shoes. Your host may be wearing shoes that they only wear indoors, and you don’t want to appear disrespectful to their home or culture”.
She offers advice to those entering houses that inhabit pets, where discomfort may arise if the floor seems unclean, “If your host expects you to remove your shoes, you might feel you do not want to put your dirty socks or feet back into your shoes when you go to leave. In that case, bringing a spare pair of socks is a good idea”.
In a recent social media post, Learning and Development Leader in India, Shweta Sharma, shares the story of her 6-year-old son online, who in a short video asks his mother “Ma why do you bring me gurudwara every weekend to polish other’s shoes?”.
She reports her response was as follows “This will help you to keep your ego aside and treat everyone respectfully and equally regardless of their background”.
This do-good story not only shows how to remain humble, through a simple act of service but also highlights, that shoes are usually left at the front entrance in such places of worship for apparent reasons.
Within Japanese and other Asian cultures, eating on tatami mats, as well as sleeping on rolled out futons on the floor, is another common custom and reason why shoes are kept at the door.
But does this historic tradition stop at cultural meaning or do science and ritualists believe that not bringing your shoes into your home could do you some good?
Recent studies from experts have shown that a high prevalence of pathogens building up inside people’s homes, comes from outside, and can be tracked to the soles of your shoes.
One online study revealed that footwear can track bacteria in your home, as the study experimented with brand new shoes being worn outside, by 10 participants, which were sampled for bacteria, and contained 421,000 units of bacteria, with faecal bacteria being on 96% of the shoes.
Healthline also reports that “Infectious bacteria can attach to shoes when you’ve been walking outdoors, in public restrooms”, as the bacteria can cause intestinal and urinary tract infections and are most common in rural areas where there are animal droppings from farms and other wildlife where people walk, such as nature reserves and national parks.
As well as this, studies have proven that the tread and cracks in shoes are ideal places for bacteria such as E. coli, C. diff, Staphylococcus aureus and pesticides to travel onto the bottom of shoes and linger.
During the pandemic, this became more of an issue as microbiologists found that coronavirus could last on leather shoes for up to 48 hours.
In a collaborative effort, new research founded by De Montfort University in Leicester and the British Footwear Association, helped the shoe industry to recover from the effects of Covid-19 by understanding for the first time how the coronavirus behaves on leather.
Using an anti-viral treatment created by a Leicester based company called Micro-Fresh, when applied to the leather, it took the survival time of coronavirus from 24-48 hours to two hours.
Lucy Reece Raybould, Chief Executive of the British Footwear Association said: “I am pleased that this study has found some concrete information for the footwear industry that can now be transformed into actionable guidance to boost consumer confidence and give customers greater peace of mind, whether they are browsing, trying on or taking their goods home”.
These findings mean that shoe manufacturers now have the information to alter their health and safety procedures knowing when transmission times are highest and can advise stockists on protecting the shoes in stores.
We say all the more reason to stick to the #noshoesinside policy!
