The "book" About Feet And Shoes, Circa 1970's

[trickrider1]

I'm not sure if this may post twice as it didn't appear to upload.  Anyway, I'm curious if any of you have read the book "The Sex Life of the Foot and Shoe", which was written back in the 1970's by a podiatrist.  It's a very interesting and informative book that will no doubt answer or confirm many of the questions or theories that you've had about shoes including history of styles, what drives shoe design, the type of personality that leans toward certain styles, etc.  It's particularly interesting coming from a "foot doctor" as they are notorious for wanting us to all wear the ugliest shoes known to mankind, with only foot and ankle surgeons being even worse.

[5150PLB1]

I'm not sure if this may post twice as it didn't appear to upload.  Anyway, I'm curious if any of you have read the book "The Sex Life of the Foot and Shoe", which was written back in the 1970's by a podiatrist.  It's a very interesting and informative book that will no doubt answer or confirm many of the questions or theories that you've had about shoes including history of styles, what drives shoe design, the type of personality that leans toward certain styles, etc.  It's particularly interesting coming from a "foot doctor" as they are notorious for wanting us to all wear the ugliest shoes known to mankind, with only foot and ankle surgeons being even worse.

Totally agree with you, If podiatrists and foot surgeons had their way, we all would be wearing Birkenstocks during the summer, and Uggs during the winter.

[Steve63130]

I have read it, a long time ago. It's available on Amazon.com.

 

Steve

[docs41]

I read it too, and I think I still have the book stashed away somewhere.  Good read...

[heels59]

Since this thread started, I ordered the book through Amazon, shipped from UK, and read it cover to cover. I don't think the author was a podiatrist, but he was an editor of several footwear publications. One thing to keep in mind is that it was written when psychiatry was obsessed with Freudian theories that everything revolves around sex. None the less, he lays out a convincing argument that the foot is a sex organ, second only to genitalia, and has been considered such for millennia. Chinese foot binding was an expression of it. The shoe, as a covering of the foot, also has sexual connotations. The long pointed toes of Mexicans' boots pointed out in a recent thread have made their cycles many times since Roman days. They represent the phallus. (You knew they were compensating for something, right?)

 

While the book delves into all manner of foot, shoe, and leather fetishes, with an open and frank tone, and makes clear that all of this goes back thousands of years, it does not really deal directly with men wearing women's shoes beyond sexplay. Perhaps that is a narrow subset of the broader altocalciphilia, or perhaps it isn't really so much a sexual thing at all. I'm sure it is different for each individual.

 

I didn't learn much about myself that I didn't already know from my own experience and from reading this forum for a few years. However there is a lot of interesting foundational background that is quite fascinating, as well as many tales and stories he has collected over the years. It's a little like reading an electronics theory book from the 1950's. On one hand it bears no resemblance to today's scene, and on the other hand it provides a foundation that it is all built on.

[Bubba136]

And the title of this book and the name of the author is ?

[at9]

The title was given in the original post. Googling it gives this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sex-Life-Foot-Shoe/dp/0894645730 Or http://www.amazon.com/The-Sex-Life-Foot-Shoe/dp/0894645730 if you're in the USA. Many of the cheaper secondhand options are in the US.

[shrimper]

Author is Dr. William A. Rossi