Summary:
This
entertaining and wide-ranging book discusses the importance of the human foot
and many related topics. There are five alliteratively named chapters.
1. Destiny
Drawing on anthropological research, Rinzler discusses the
deep history of humans and their primate ancestors. Our bipedalism—our upright
stance—preceded our large brain, making possible a larger diet and working well
with our bodies as they evolved away from other primates. She discusses the
idealized ratios of Leonardo’s Vitruvian man. Leonardo considered our foot as
“a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art” (p. 6).
2. Disability
Rinzler discusses historical senses of disability, notably
clubfoot. She mentions various people with a clubfoot: Joseph Goebbels, Sir Walter Scott, King Tut,
Cludius I, Dudly Moore, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Mia Hamm; the last are two
successful athletes. Rinzler reviews the
history of surgical approaches, many of which were harmful. X-ray and
sonography provided new insights, and genetics may have further promise, given
that families and ethnic groups often have higher instances of clubfoot.
3. Difference
This chapter describes the anatomy of the foot, bones,
arches, tendons, and on as well as artistic representations and, of course,
ballet and other forms of dance. A footprint is as individual as the much-used
fingerprint. In Nazism and the American south, a flat foot was discriminated
against as Jewish or Negro. Various treatments have been proposed for flat
feet.
4. Diet
Gout has been known since antiquity, but only in modern
times has the underlying biochemistry and, now, genetic
heritage been understood. The chapter mentions many famous names of people who suffered from
gout. rheumatism, or corns. The closing pages discuss pharmaceutical
approaches.
5. Desire
The foot as sexual symbol: Rinzler discuss
folklore (Cinderella’s slipper), pheromones, and Biblical topics: God’s feet, footwashing, and feet as symbols
for sex and urination. Foot fetishism can be understood in terms of the lavish
sensory innervation that links to our brain. Discussion mentions the bound feet
of China, the folktale The Red Shoes, also Fifty
Shades of Grey, Sex and the City, and Judy Garland’s red
shoes in The Wizard of Oz
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