Answer to Question #92719 in English for Amanda

Question

What happens in "The Family of Little Feet?" Why do you think the girls get tired of "being beautiful?"

Answer 1

The Family of Little Feet is comprised of young naive girls with tiny plump feet; Esperanza, Lucy, Rachel and Nenny. One day, these girls receive pairs of old high-heels that perfectly fit their tiny feet and after trying them, they feel they have attractive womanly legs. They show off their long legs and they receive sexual comments and criticisms from boys and men. For example, they are told that those shoes were dangerous for them but they ignore these comments. One of the girls, Rachel is also offered one dollar to kiss a drunken bum and as a result, the girls are frightened and they take off to go home. Once at home, the girls hide their shoes on the porch out of embarrassment and they are later discarded by their mother and the girls finally feel relieved that the shoes are gone.

The girls get tired of being beautiful because of the unnecessary sexual attention and teasing they receive from men and boys simply because of their shoes. Their shoes are used as a symbol of sexuality and the girls feel they are too young to be ready for such attention which leads them to hide the shoes.