By George Costanza
Former Hand Model
This spring, Washington College students are embracing one of the Internet’s strangest trends. The “Dogs Out” movement, a viral phenomenon that hinges on one’s dedication to bare-footedness, is making its way to Chestertown.
“Shoes are just so restrictive,” Stil Leto said in an interview with People. “It’s so much more freeing to just let your feet breathe, the way nature intended.” The actor, brother of “Morbius” star Jared Leto, is credited with popularizing foot-freeing practices.
Shortly after Leto’s confession, Taylor Swift performed an entire concert without shoes on. As a result, #NoShoesNoCrime was trending on Twitter for some time.
One user went as far as to say that true Swift fans shouldn’t be surprised at the artist’s involvement in the movement.
“i’m sorry but i kicked shoes out of my life YEARS ago for Taylor…if you’re only just now catching on…all i have to say is that you SUCK at reading her easter eggs,” user @redrover said. “what did you people even think ‘shake it off’ was about?
On campus, Grippers United, a new Student Interest Group, was formed by freshman Connie Verse and several of his peers in early March. Since its first meeting, the group has accumulated 69 members.
Campus life has no doubt been impacted by the popularity of the “Dogs Out” movement.
“The stench of uncaged, dirty dogs permeates Hodson Hall now,” senior Pam Pootie said. “Honestly, it’s a bit of an improvement from the smell of the food, so I don’t mind too much.”
Others disagree. Professor of Art Dr. Bob Marten, is opposed to the movement and said that the practices associated with it disrupt his teaching.
“I teach impressionism, and sometimes I’ll have students recreate famous impressionist pieces,” Dr. Marten said. “But half my class is failing because they’re turning in portraits with their subject’s feet in complete, hyper-realistic detail. Everything else is impressionistic, just not the feet. I don’t understand it.”
According to sophomore Mary Jane, who takes Dr. Marten’s class, students’ refusal to “censor” feet aligns with the most basic tenets of the “Dogs Out” movement.
“It’s all about freeing your feet,” Jane said. “This is about more than comfortability. This is about liberty.”
Meanwhile, the anonymously-run Instagram account @guslovestoesies has been posting and meme-ing photos of student’s bare toes for the past two weeks.
Though the account seems to be ridiculing those whose feet are bare, shoe wearers are finding themselves to be in the minority on campus.
“I guess nobody wants to wear shoes any more,” senior Winkle Picker said. “I’m finding it really hard to justify why I’m still wearing mine as time passes, but for now I’ve just been telling people I don’t want the shoes I already have to go to waste.”
Grippers United already has an answer to this dilemma, though. On Saturday, April 1, they’ll be hosting a shoe recycling event, where students can work together to transform their shoes into fun hats, cute clutches, chewable dog toys, and more.
It seems evident that WC will not be caging its dogs again any time soon.
Credit: Photo courtesy of FeetFinder.com
Caption: Got feet? Send to 410-778-FEET!