I was just reading up on foot binding..

[Marie]

http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/China/04/hutchins/hutchins.htm

http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~ronald/393/footbinding_files/image006.jpg

That was such an awful practice.. it's hard to believe that it lasted about 1000 years.

[borealis]

My friend said she saw a tv show on which a modern woman chose to bind her feet. The woman who did it thought it was sexy. My friend said it looked deformed. :(

I can't imagine choosing that for yourself as an adult. Of course, I also don't understand extreme tightlacing (corsets).

[rainbowmoon]

The feet do look deformed, and are sometimes even infected. I don't understand why anyone would think this is a good idea. I feel sad for all of those girls who suffered. :(

[bethanie]

Oh yes, foot binding=torture! This reminds me of the book Wild Swans, which is an excellent read if you ever get the chance and goes back to the generations in which foot binding was a common practice. But it was, really really awful. Ah, what women have done and continue to do in the name of making themselves beautiful for men.

B

[Skylark]

Its similar to the practice of the Mayans--they did head-shaping. If you look at their sculptures, many of them have these flat heads. It looks like what might happen over time if you had a vice on your head (one side on your forehead, the other at the back of your head).

European women used to pluck their scalp hairlines back to look wise. This was in the 18th century, I think.

[Alfiedog]

Can it be considered 'for fashion' if the girls themselves don't want it and are forced to do it?

[Marie]

It seemed like a way for men to control women. I'd equate it with female circumcision.

[Formerbaboon]

I think its really sad, and painful.

[VegInMaine]

It seemed like a way for men to control women. I'd equate it with female circumcision.

If I'm not mistaken, the traditional Chinese woman's role was to care of the home. The men imposed this idea of foot binding to keep their wives young; childlike. It also had the benefit of limiting the amount of steps a woman could take without endangering herself, securing a faithful wife.

[Cherry Head]

If I'm not mistaken, the traditional Chinese woman's role was to care of the home. The men imposed this idea of foot binding to keep their wives young; childlike. It also had the benefit of limiting the amount of steps a woman could take without endangering herself, securing a faithful wife.
Hmm, makes sense.

I just wince and shudder every time I think about foot binding. :shudder:

[Kreeli]

i also read, some time ago, that the way women with bound feet were forced to walk stimulated their pelvic muscles and made them stronger...thereby increasing their husbands' sexual pleasure. though i'm not sure how true that is.

[Christy]

Wouldn't it increase their pleasure as well? I mean, besides the crippling pain of the feet.

[Kreeli]

somehow i don't think that women were encouraged to enjoy sex in that culture.

[Christy]

I know, that's why I was curious. I'm sure they wouldn't want to focus on that.

[MezzoEmi]

Kinda reminds me of the old corset practice -- although I think corsets can be sexy with lingerie. :P

[borealis]

When I worked in a nursing home, the feet of ladies who had worn high heels all their lives were very similar to the photos of bound feet I've seen. They weren't as short, broken and squished-looking as bound feet. But their toes were permanently twisted and gnarled; one lady's big toes were crossed under her little toes from being shoved into narrow points for decades, and she could never straighten them out again. These ladies also had deformed arches, and some could not put their feet flat on the floor because their tendons were shortened -- so they were effectively hobbled; they could no longer walk.

I think of that when I see young women with their feet jammed into narrow high-heeled shoes. It makes me really sad.