Yet another possible cause for Crossdressing >> Flip-Flops!

[eluuzion]

I have never been a big fan of flip-flops. I lived in Florida for many years and wore them at the beach and around the pool. But I never liked wearing them. Functionally, they seem similar to wearing flippers to me and also have zero aesthetic appeal.

Then there are the health hazard aspects of flip-flops...
You might as well be wearing a Petri dish on each foot. (Not to mention the countless accidental injuries they cause each year and the foot/bone/muscles/tendon damage that can result from wearing them on a regular basis).

Flip-Flops as a bacteria magnet
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009...ococcus-aureus
18,000 bacteria on just one pair of flip-flops
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/324535...-today_health/

But hey, enough said about all those good qualities.
While surfing around for more information in my whimsical investigation of flip-flops, I discovered what may be a connection to crossdressing! Basically, in several discussions about flip-flops exposing the skin to absorption of everything from staphylococcus to feces, there were references to the potential dangers of absorbing phthalates into the body when wearing flip-flops.

Apparently there is evidence that phthalates can enact change in hormone levels in a young male child that produces feminization characteristics. If this is the case, then it seems logical to me to suspect that this could potentially have some causative connection with the development of the compulsive desire for crossdressing behavior.

Phthalates in your flip flops causes male child feminization via changed hormone levels
http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/phthalates-flip-flops/
Wikipedia's explanation of endocrine disruptors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthala...ine_disruption

So, what do you think?

[Shari]

Imagine the money that was spent in government grants to come up with such trivial drivel.

[sissystephanie]

I quit wearing flip flops over 50 years ago when my dear late wife told me they were ugly and did nto support my feet at all!! BTW Shari, that report on flip flops was done in Denmark!! Hopefully none of out money was spent on it!!

[Marissa_Black]

More little known flip-flop history:
1. You've all heard of the "Windtalkers" sending and receiving codes in Navajo during World War II. There was a lesser known group of coders during the Viet Nam War known as "Flippity-Floppity Talkers" that communicated messages by walking through the jungle in ways that the flip-flops sent out Morse Code by the way the flip-flops hit the bottom of their feet.
2. In a 1974 Luxembourg study it was found that the flip-flop post cured the build-up of toe jam between the big toe and the next toe. Nike quickly came out with a line of flip-flops that had posts between all toes. They were a complete failure. They sell for "1.99 a pair on E-bay now.
3. In a little known lawsuit from the Kerry-Bush presidential campaign, the patent-holding inventors of flip-flops were granted a $3M settlement for copyright infringement from the Republican National Committee for labeling Kerry as a "flip-flopper".

[Barbra P]

Most people I have known wear the same shoe day in and day out and may occasionally put on something dressier to go to church or out socializing. The shoe never gets completely dry inside; talk about a Petri dish and fungus farm. Most bacteria need some moisture to survive and at least flip-flops remain relatively dry most of the time and dry completely when they are not being worn, well unless you live in Florida where nothing completely dries a good deal of the year.

The Internet is full of all sorts of scare articles, as is the mainstream media. I recently read an article that said the sponge sitting near the kitchen counter contained more bacteria than a toilet.

I do know that since I started wearing flip-flops I have not had any outbreaks of Athletes Foot and my Nail Fungus has cleared up.

How about these facts:

“A typical mattress can contain tens of thousands of dust mites. Sick yet? Nearly 100,000 mites can live in one square yard of carpet. Ready to convince your spouse to start bathing regularly? Did you know a single dust mite produces about 20 waste droppings each day, each containing a protein to which many people are allergic. Yuck! The proteins in that combination of feces and shed skin are what cause allergic reactions in humans. Depending on the person and exposure, reactions can range from itchy eyes to asthma attacks.”

“Beds are a prime habitat (where 1/3 of life occurs). A typical used mattress may have anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. (Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings.) Mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it. A favorite food is dander (both human and animal skin flakes). Humans shed about 1/5 ounce of dander (dead skin) each week. About 80 percent of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually skin flakes. Also, bedroom carpeting and household upholstery support high mite populations.

The University of Manchester performed a 2005 medical study of pillows that found up to 16 species of fungi in a single pillow. They tested feather and synthetic pillows in a range of ages, finding thousands of spores of fungus per gram of pillow ; more than is found on an average used toothbrush.” - http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/dustmites.php

Want to do some Internet research? Check out how many bug parts, rat hairs, and feces are found in a box of cereal, or a hotdog, or cold cuts. We are bombarded by pathogens every minute of our lives, and personally I doubt that flip-flops are much of a threat.

[Kate Lynn]

I used to wear flip flops when I lived in Florida,every day,you know the style,rubber pad with nylon straps,you would not believe the foot problems I had,some years back I had a pair of Croc flip flop,they sucked,and yes when I went through the TSA gestapo check point at the airport,those lameazzez made me take them off.

[Samantha43]

Imagine the money that was spent in government grants to come up with such trivial drivel.

Exactly.....

I have never worn flip flops, I hate them. It doesn't explain me.

[eluuzion]

I am sure that if everybody would wear their aluminum foil deflector beanies like they are supposed to, studies like this would not be necessary (in any country). Then the grant money could be used for real research projects that benefit society, like figuring out how to design a pump with a 7" or 8" heel that was stable enough to walk in. Or some type of miniature voice changing device you could wear around your neck that has a male-female slider control.

Surely I can think of something worthy of grant money...Obviously it does not have to be logical.

It does not apply to me much either, as I only wore flip-flops in the sand. I still think it has something to do with zucchini exposure, since I never cross dressed until I was 28 years old. I suddenly got the urge for the first time when I was in my garden picking zucchini.

I am pretty sure that was it for me. I could be wrong...

[Stephanie47]

Rubbish! As a kid I played baseball, football, basketball, punch ball, roller hockey, bowling. I don't thin going in for a lay up shot would have worked with flip flops. My mother never let her children run around barefooted in the country because of the possibility of picking up worms, etc. And, I still ended up being a cross-dresser??????? No sister who dressed me up either! Maybe we need another government study for this! I volunteer for the million dollar study of why buying dresses relieves combat stress.

[SuzanneBender]

Your thread made my day I started giggling at the title and it just went from there. Ok sure lots of money and resources were spent on this study not to mention some of the worlds greatest scientific minds focusing years of their time on this mystery, but I for one am relieved we finally have an answer.

The problem is I, like many of your replies, never wore flip flops AKA sandals as a kid. I didn't really wear flip flops until I joined the Army because...well if you have ever seen the typical barracks shower you would understand. Other than that I really didn't wear sandals until I started presenting en femme. Which leads me to further hypothesis to support this quizzical yet relevant scientific find.

Perhaps the same plastic used in flip flops was used in the soles of Keds, Converse and early versions of Nikes. Most of us growing up in the 70's and 80's were blessed with these fine forms of footwear. Could it be that it was a conspiracy by shoe designers to increase sales of womens shoes in the 21st century by feminizing a generation of young males? As a child I seemed to take my socks off and loose them within hours of the day starting. In fact, I suspect not remembering where my socks were is due to the ADHD caused by the exposure to phthalates. Which in turn increased my exposure resulting over the long term the undeniable urge to run out and find fabulous designer footwear. As the exposure has reduced I still have the urge to find exquisite shoes, but at least now its tempered with the desire to find them on sale.

Maybe we need another government study for this! I volunteer for the million dollar study of why buying dresses relieves combat stress.

I will volunteer to be in the first test group with you Stephanie! If we play our cards right the VA will give us a clothing allowance for shopping for designer dressers to go with the designer shoes that we are now forced to buy thanks to the effects of those silly phthalates.

[Loni]

how can i get a multi million a year for say ten years to study cross dressing and it's effects on life? now here is a real study that needs to be done.

sign me up. plus i need the cash.


.

[Jeannie]

All I can say is, Wow!

[NicoleScott]

In the Army, we called them "shower shoes". When I was stationed overseas, the locals called them "Chowa Chooz".

[Diane Smith]

I always hated flip-flops. (Back when I was a kid we called them "thongs," but that term seems to have been co-opted to mean something else now ... don't wear those either.) The post between the toes just drove me nuts and rubbed the skin raw there. I still can't wear any shoes that touch the toe webs like that -- instant pain.

So, no chemicals from the evil sandals have ever entered through the soles of my precious feet, sorry -- it certainly doesn't explain dressing up in my case.

- Diane

[Iskandra]

Meh.. there's more bacteria on your toothbrush than they claim to be on thongs... (oh yeah aussie word for flip flops)
And if you wear them at the beach or the pool in summer, they get soaked enough in chlorinated water or salt water to kill the majority of bacteria..

I used to hate them too coz the bit between the toe always rubbed my skin raw.. But I now own 2 pair with cloth straps and toe bit.. They wear very comfortably!
Thongs are just convenient sometimes.. High fashion never...

[BRANDYJ]

I hate those things! Can't wear them. I tried once...just once. Had to curl my toes to keep the things on. Hate that thing between my toes too. i don't understand how anyone can wear them. Not to mention that they are ugly. Anything on my foot has to move when and where my foot moves. Not slam back up with each toe curly step. lol

[StarrOfDelite]

Are Tevas and other mostly rubber sandals full of 'phthalates' also? I don't like thongs very much, don't like the 'slap-slap-slap' noise, but for years I have practically lived in Teva sandals most of the year when I'm not wearing businessmen's shoes. I've even been known to wear them, with a pair of wool socks, in three inches of snow. Of course, i was in my 20's when I got my first pair, and would imagine that all of my genetic wiring was in place, good, bad or indifferent, by then.

[Lucy_Bella]

I was Cding long before I ever tried on or wore and worn often, flip flops..

[Kaitlyn26]

I have never been a big fan of flip-flops. I lived in Florida for many years and wore them at the beach and around the pool. But I never liked wearing them. Functionally, they seem similar to wearing flippers to me and also have zero aesthetic appeal.

Then there are the health hazard aspects of flip-flops...
You might as well be wearing a Petri dish on each foot. (Not to mention the countless accidental injuries they cause each year and the foot/bone/muscles/tendon damage that can result from wearing them on a regular basis).

Flip-Flops as a bacteria magnet
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009...ococcus-aureus
18,000 bacteria on just one pair of flip-flops
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/324535...-today_health/

But hey, enough said about all those good qualities.
While surfing around for more information in my whimsical investigation of flip-flops, I discovered what may be a connection to crossdressing! Basically, in several discussions about flip-flops exposing the skin to absorption of everything from staphylococcus to feces, there were references to the potential dangers of absorbing phthalates into the body when wearing flip-flops.

Apparently there is evidence that phthalates can enact change in hormone levels in a young male child that produces feminization characteristics. If this is the case, then it seems logical to me to suspect that this could potentially have some causative connection with the development of the compulsive desire for crossdressing behavior.

Phthalates in your flip flops causes male child feminization via changed hormone levels
http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/phthalates-flip-flops/
Wikipedia's explanation of endocrine disruptors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthala...ine_disruption

So, what do you think?

I wore flip-flops everyday as a child. It seems crazy to think that footwear could alter my hormone levels though.

[busker]

How about these facts:

“A typical mattress can contain tens of thousands of dust mites. Sick yet? Nearly 100,000 mites can live in one square yard of carpet. Ready to convince your spouse to start bathing regularly? Did you know a single dust mite produces about 20 waste droppings each day, each containing a protein to which many people are allergic. Yuck! The proteins in that combination of feces and shed skin are what cause allergic reactions in humans. Depending on the person and exposure, reactions can range from itchy eyes to asthma attacks.”


.

Barbra, you would be very surprised at what lives on your eyelashes and the rest of your body.

[Suzy Parker]

I know what the casue of my crossdressing is, I dress "Cause" it is a part of who I am and "Cause" it just feels right.

OH, and flip flops are terrible and I hate it when women wear those and think they are appropriate for everything. They are not sandals, they are shower shoes to keep the fungus off of your feet.

[Bernadina]

I've never worn flip flops ever.

I figure my CDing is due to an alien abduction and some bizarre experiment (mm wonder it the experiment had anything to do with flip flops).

[ReineD]

While surfing around for more information in my whimsical investigation of flip-flops, I discovered what may be a connection to crossdressing!

Huh. And I always thought it was on account of the name, Flip-Flop. Get it?

Seriously, how many phthalates are being absorbed? Is it negligible like the amount you'd get from microwaving a sandwich on a plastic plate?

Moving on to the nasty bacterias, I also last wore flip-flops when I was a kid ... until THIS YEAR! I finally caved in and bought not one, but TWO pairs of flip-flops. One black and one white, of the Nike variety. And this, from a woman who has refused to wear sneakers anywhere else than a gym all my adult life. lol.

Must be getting more casual in my old age.

But thanks for the resources. I'll be sure to sanitize my feet and flip-flops on a regular basis now.