← Kinesics — gestures

The exposed sole

Showing the sole of the foot: Western comfort, Asian insult.

Category : Kinesics — gesturesSubcategory : pieds-chaussuresConfidence level : 2/5 (sourced hypothesis)Identifier : e0075

Meaning

Target direction : Involuntary, comfortable sitting posture - no intention.

Interpreted meaning : Serious ritual insult: South Asia, Middle East, reject or defile.

Geography of misunderstanding

1. The gesture and its expected meaning

In the West, crossing one's legs while exposing the sole of one's shoe is a routine, ergonomic gesture devoid of any message. The foot is not culturally coded: it is treated by Western observers as a biomechanical detail without significance. No intent, no symbolism. The body is neutral.

2. Where it goes wrong: geography of the misunderstanding

In the Arab world (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria), the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan) and Buddhist Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos), the sole is treated as the most defiled object on the body. Pointing the sole towards a person — even unwittingly, with American "figure 4" crossed legs — is tantamount to saying "you are at the level of what my foot treads on". In the United Arab Emirates, in a business setting, the sight of a European crossing his legs in front of a sheikh can be enough to close the meeting without a word being spoken.

3. Historical genesis

Two roots converge. On the Hindu side, the oldest trace is the Purusha Sukta (Rig Veda, hymn X.90, dated c. 1200 BCE): from the mouth of the cosmic Purusha came the Brahmins (priestly caste), from his feet the Shudras (servile caste). The hierarchy is first social, and projected onto the body. The Manusmriti, a dharmaśāstra text dated to the 2nd century BCE - 2nd century CE (critical edition Olivelle 2005, Oxford University Press), then codifies this scheme: touching an elder's feet becomes a gesture of ritual submission, exposing one's own feet to a superior becomes an act of disrespect. On the Muslim side, the 9th-century hadith collections — Sahih al-Bukhari (compiled c. 846 by Muhammad al-Bukhari, †870) and Sahih Muslim (completed shortly before the death of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, †875) — require the removal of shoes before entering a mosque or a home; the sole, which treads the street and the public ground, is treated as an object of practical defilement. At the crossroads of these two corpora, throughout the Islamic-Hindu geographical arc, the exposed sole takes on the value of an unintended insult.

4. Documented famous incidents

On 14 December 2008, in Baghdad, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist correspondent for the channel Al-Baghdadia, threw both his shoes at US President George W. Bush during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. With the first shoe he shouted in Arabic: "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog"; with the second: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq." Bush dodged both. Al-Zaidi was sentenced on 12 March 2009 to three years in prison (reduced on appeal to one year) and released on 15 September 2009 after nine months in detention. Earlier, on 9 April 2003, in Firdos Square in Baghdad, during the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi civilians struck the bronze with their shoes: a televised gesture seen worldwide that condensed the dual symbolism of the defiled sole and the fall of the tyrant. On 22 February 2010, in Seville, during a cultural-prize ceremony for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (then Prime Minister of Turkey), Hokman Joma, a Syrian-nationality Kurd irregularly residing in Spain, threw a shoe at Erdoğan while shouting "Viva Kurdistan"; the shoe missed Erdoğan and hit a bodyguard. Joma was arrested.

5. Practical recommendations

Do: (1) keep both feet on the ground in any formal context in the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia; (2) if one must cross one's legs, do so flat, ankle-above-knee forbidden, sole pointing downward; (3) observe the local host's posture and mirror it; (4) remove shoes before entering a home, mosque or temple. Don't: (1) never cross knee over knee in American "figure 4" posture in an Emirati majlis, a Qatari office or a Hindu drawing room; (2) do not point your feet at an interlocutor or at a religious icon (Buddha statue, sacred image, Quran placed on the ground); (3) do not try to relativise after the fact by pleading innocence: the perception is made. Safe alternatives: feet together on the ground, ankles discreetly crossed under the chair, upright posture signalling respect.

Historical origins

Two convergent roots. (1) Hinduism: the Purusha Sukta (Rig Veda X.90, c. 1200 BCE) places the Brahmins at the mouth and the Shudras at the feet of the cosmic Purusha — social hierarchy projected onto the body. The Manusmriti (2nd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE, Olivelle 2005 edition) codifies this scheme into the dharmaśāstra. (2) Islam: 9th-century hadith collections (Sahih al-Bukhari compiled c. 846 by al-Bukhari †870; Sahih Muslim finished shortly before the death of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj †875) require shoes to be removed at the entrance of a mosque or a home; the sole, which treads the street and public ground, is treated as an object of practical defilement. At the intersection of these two corpora, across the Islamic-Hindu geographical arc, the exposed sole becomes a major unintended insult.

Documented incidents

• 2008-12-14 — Le 14 décembre 2008 à Bagdad, le journaliste irakien Muntadhar al-Zaidi (Al-Baghdadia TV) jette ses deux chaussures sur le président américain George W. Bush en criant en arabe « This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog » puis « This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq. » Bush esquive. Condamné le 12 mars 2009 à 3 ans de prison, libéré après 9 mois. (BBC ; CNN ; Washington Post ; Wikipedia)
• 2003-04-09 — Le 9 avril 2003, place Firdos à Bagdad, lors du renversement télévisé de la statue de Saddam Hussein, des civils irakiens frappent le bronze à coups de chaussure — geste qui condense la souillure rituelle de la semelle et l'humiliation du dictateur déchu. (Wikipedia (Saddam Hussein statue destruction) ; BBC ; ABC News ; Bangor Daily News)
• 2010-02-22 — Le 22 février 2010, à Séville, lors d'une cérémonie de remise de prix culturel à Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (alors Premier ministre turc), Hokman Joma, Kurde syrien, lance une chaussure sur Erdoğan en criant « Viva Kurdistan ». La chaussure manque sa cible et frappe un garde du corps. Joma est arrêté. (Hürriyet Daily News ; Al Arabiya ; Wikipedia (List of shoe-throwing incidents))

Practical recommendations

Neutral alternatives

• Give priority to verbal communication
• Use universal gestures
• Contextual conventions

Sources