As you might have heard, an Arab reporter threw his shoes at George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad. I was really impressed with Bush’s nimble agility and his timely ducking to avoid the incoming shoes. While I was thoroughly amused and laughing out loud at this unexpected crazy scene, I wondered how come I hadn’t heard about this method of Arab insult since I was raised in Iran which is a regional neighbor of many Arab countries especially Iraq. In fact, I would have been as shocked as Bush, if I saw the incoming shoes. The only give away would have been an angry Arab man shouting profanities in Arabic.
So I started thinking how does this shoe throwing insult work?
First of all, why is it an insult to throw your shoe at someone? I have heard of tomatoes, rotten eggs, raw eggs, garbage, a bag full of human or dog feces. But shoes?
Footwear should be just as respectable as other articles of clothing. In fact, women love shoes. Some women can’t have enough of them. At one point, Imelda Marcus, the former first lady of Philippines became more famous than her husband because of the several hundred pair of shoes in her closet.
So, I decided to ask around and find out how this insult thing works. If you know the answer to any of these questions, feel free to chime in.
Is it more of an insult to throw an old dirty shoe than a new or recently shined one?
If you throw an expensive dress shoe at someone, are you insulting him respectfully?
Is it a minor insult, if you throw children’s shoes?
Since in Islam and the Arabian societies, a woman is considered half as important as a man, is it proportionally more of an insult, if you throw a man’s shoe?
If you want to insult someone and have a specific amount in mind, can you make fractional insults? For Example, one man shoe, two women shoes and a child one.
Since there is a certain protocol in Islam and potentially the entire Arabian culture that you can only use your left hand for personal hygiene, does it make a bigger insult, if you throw the left shoe with your left hand first?
If you throw football cleats, is it an unsportsmanlike conduct or an insult?
If you throw your sandals at someone, are you insulting them casually?
If you throw your riding boots, are you really insulting them or just horsing around?
If you throw a horse shoe at someone, is it a beastly insult or a good luck wish that you don’t mean? And if you miss and can’t hit them with the horse shoe, does it still count?
