@RubyG8396
Historically not that long ago Asia modernized. Prior to that, even in 1950 Korea was still mostly living the way it had for centuries prior to Westernization with the exception of some urban areas like Seoul. Hell, you still got obscure as fuck areas in China/Central Asia/Middle East that still mostly live like they did centuries prior without much change. No electricity, no cars, no television, radio, phone, ect.
Having horses was an expensive luxury afforded only to the most wealthy. The vast majority of people walked. In a world pre-modernization, your feet being in good health was still very important. Even with nobles back then, feet care was extremely important. Infections can easily enter a punctured foot, linger and then kill you without much warning versus getting a cut on your hand where it's more apparent to care for and spot the symptoms.
In many poor/rural areas, foot care is still a part of day to day necessity. Ever heard of trench foot thanks to WWI? Sure the only foot care people have in modern areas are foot spas and pedicures but where do you think that industry's history hails from? Cellulitis is still a pretty big deal and you can get it anywhere. A friend of mine got it not long ago in her own home, which she meticulously keeps clean. (Stepped on a lego and didn't think much of it cause she didn't bleed or anything.) She merely thought it was just her being on her feet too long that was causing swelling cause she does have that issue. Turns out a couple weeks later it was cellulitis and if she had waited a little longer to go in about it would have had a lot more issues to deal with. In regions where modern medicine isn't that great, parasites and cellulitis can do a person in easily.
It's not infantilization but in old cultures that only recently modernized, it's still a sign of care because feet are important to a person's health and mobility. If you read the Bible, even if forced to as a kid, remember the parts where people washed feet and shit? That was a form of preventative healthcare.
So yeah it does seem weird to Western cultures where industrialization and modernization has been around longer, but in context to a global scale, it's actually not that strange for people to constantly show affection by caring for others' feet.
Historically not that long ago Asia modernized. Prior to that, even in 1950 Korea was still mostly living the way it had for centuries prior to Westernization with the exception of some urban areas like Seoul. Hell, you still got obscure as fuck areas in China/Central Asia/Middle East that still mostly live like they did centuries prior without much change. No electricity, no cars, no television, radio, phone, ect.
Having horses was an expensive luxury afforded only to the most wealthy. The vast majority of people walked. In a world pre-modernization, your feet being in good health was still very important. Even with nobles back then, feet care was extremely important. Infections can easily enter a punctured foot, linger and then kill you without much warning versus getting a cut on your hand where it's more apparent to care for and spot the symptoms.
In many poor/rural areas, foot care is still a part of day to day necessity. Ever heard of trench foot thanks to WWI? Sure the only foot care people have in modern areas are foot spas and pedicures but where do you think that industry's history hails from? Cellulitis is still a pretty big deal and you can get it anywhere. A friend of mine got it not long ago in her own home, which she meticulously keeps clean. (Stepped on a lego and didn't think much of it cause she didn't bleed or anything.) She merely thought it was just her being on her feet too long that was causing swelling cause she does have that issue. Turns out a couple weeks later it was cellulitis and if she had waited a little longer to go in about it would have had a lot more issues to deal with. In regions where modern medicine isn't that great, parasites and cellulitis can do a person in easily.
It's not infantilization but in old cultures that only recently modernized, it's still a sign of care because feet are important to a person's health and mobility. If you read the Bible, even if forced to as a kid, remember the parts where people washed feet and shit? That was a form of preventative healthcare.
So yeah it does seem weird to Western cultures where industrialization and modernization has been around longer, but in context to a global scale, it's actually not that strange for people to constantly show affection by caring for others' feet.
