[elmer fudd]

"This is absurd. People stopped growing strong toes because shoes came along? No one could make that argument with a straight face. They would need to argue that strong toed people were not sexually desirable so didn't pass along their strong toes...that would at least make evolutionary sense."

It's NOT an evolutionary argument. The claim is that people stopped growing strong toes because with the advent of shoes their toes no longer got the same amount of exercise. Presumably, we've still got the genes for big strong toes and if we were to spend our lives barefoot running through the forest and climbing trees and rocks all day we'd have big, strong toes again.

[TASMANIANRED]

I spent the first 6 years of my life exclusively barefoot.

For the next 12 I only wore them to school.

My toes are not big and strong and they were definitely well exercised, climbing trees and running.

I have the typical female foot.