From meme to movement: How Toes out Tuesday broke a WHS stigma

By Janelle Trujillo '26

Toes out Tuesday was a spirit day this past spirit week. Naturally, this had Wethersfield High School students buzzing. Spirit week is usually a blur—a week full of basic themes like color wars and crazy hair days.

​Ever since that Toes out Tuesday, I’ve personally noticed more people feeling comfortable wearing open-toe shoes. It’s gradually becoming more normalized. Compared to the week prior, when wearing open-toed shoes was considered weird, this spirit day created a movement among Wethersfield High School students.

Toes out Tuesday wasn’t just a quirky spirit day; it became something more. It fought the stigma around wearing open-toed shoes to school.

Over the past few years, feet in general have been viewed as strange or bizarre. Let’s be honest: seeing someone wearing Birkenstocks or Crocs with no socks is not a normal sight here at Wethersfield High School. Why is that?

From 2018 to 2020, any discussion surrounding feet on the internet was essentially a meme—jokes like “feet-for-sale” became very common to see on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) or TikTok. On social media, feet seemed like they were destigmatized through humor; however, that was not the reality post-pandemic or in real-life settings.

In a psychological sense, people naturally associate feet with uncleanliness. We walk on our feet, and they can be dirty. Because of the psychology behind the way we view this part of our body, opinions can split drastically, ranging from enthusiastic to repulsed.

With these two perspectives in mind, it creates room for something called “irony poisoning.” Irony poisoning essentially means many people engage with online memes purely for comedic purposes, making it difficult for people within that group to distinguish if others are also joking or if they have a genuine interest. Right now, society views the topic this way: genuine interest is viewed as extremely weird, but making jokes about it is hilarious.

Media aside, students here at Wethersfield High School have their own opinions about the questionable spirit day.

“I did think that it was a weird spirit day for us to have, but it really did take away the stigma from people having their toes out,” Wethersfield High School junior Michaela Dizaar said. “Ever since then, I’ve seen so many more people wearing open-toed shoes.”

Mariyah Smith agreed with Dizaar's observation.

“Toes out Tuesday was a strange spirit day choice, but it definitely allowed more people to feel more comfortable having their toes out at school,” Smith said. “People are not self-conscious about it anymore.”

Chelsea Gallares also shared her enthusiasm.

“I feel free now,” Gallares said. “I feel less judged now that we’ve all realized that toes are actually fine, especially if they’re done.”

After hearing from a variety of students, the overall consensus seems to be that this once-taboo topic has become more commonly accepted. Toes out Tuesday broke the barrier between toes being viewed as weird versus being normal. Much like Gallares, a lot of students are starting to feel more liberated. As the school year heads into warmer weather, it is perfect timing for students to wear their Crocs to school without layering socks.

Student council president Leyna Rodriguez gave her input on the matter.

“We saw it on TikTok,” Rodriguez said. “At first it was a funny joke, but we were like, ‘Why not?’ Toes should be normalized anyway.”

April 28 marked the start of a movement. While slightly controversial at the moment, it became a huge step toward the normalization of freely wearing shoes the way we want to at Wethersfield High School—one pair of Birkenstocks at a time.

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