Barefoot and Pregnant

What image does that phrase, "barefoot and pregnant," bring to mind? Let me guess. A pained looking woman wearing a sack dress, probably with coal-rich mountains rising in the background? Or maybe you think of a woman wearing her boyfriend's blue jean cut-offs and a tank top, posing in front of a 1972 Camaro, maybe with a Camel Light dangling from her lip? I have begun to wonder what it is about that phrase that evokes such hard luck images. I mean, I bet nobody thinks of a pregnant woman with bejeweled fingers and Versace sunglasses lounging, pedicured feet outstretched, beside the pool at the country club. Why is this, I wonder?
I have started to understand barefoot and pregnant. I'm not even on my feet that much, but they get sore. Two days of swollen ankles was enough to make me long for springtime sandal weather. Here's a secret: On my lunch break, I take off my socks and shoes and sit with my feet propped up in a chair. The first thing I do when I get home is remove socks and shoes. Last night, I changed the sheets on the bed, and thoroughly enjoyed sliding my bare feet over the cool, clean sheets. When I can get her to cooperate, I have my dog lie down in front of the couch so that I can pet her with my bare feet. Seriously people, shoes have become my enemy.
Today, here in my part of Kentucky, it is seventy degrees out, a warm indulgence that we will likely pay for with wicked storms later this evening. Standing in my closet this morning, I longingly fondled my strappy pink Birkenstocks. Oh, how much I wanted to wear them, but I know the cruelty that would come tomorrow, after the storms, when the temperature is back down to normal February levels, and I'll be forced to coax my feet into socks and real shoes again. I know that I am not up for that kind of disappointment, so I turned my back on the pink sandals, and chose instead my trusty black suede Bostons.
I realize of course that there is an entire anti-feminism connotation at the core of the phrase, the origins and history of which can be found in this article. I am a nerd for useless information. Read the article if you have the stomach for that kind of gender politics debate, which I do not. Because let me just tell you, if you are pregnant, then barefoot is the way to be.