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182 commentsFoot binding was practiced in China for 1000 years. Young girls would have their feet wrapped, thus limiting the normal development and essentially crippling them. Today, it is a prominent cause of disability among elderly Chinese women. Read more about it here
I found this article after reading Lisa See’s novel “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”…if you want to know more about the foot binding process, the novel describes foods eaten before, the rag bandages soaked in water mid-winter in hopes that the cold weather would numb the feet, the excrutiating pain that followed, the fact that one in ten girls died from resulting gangrene…Alyssa, these forms of subjugation of women are not really a matter of opinion..they are fact..they hurt… little 7 – 8 yr old girls died …to make women conform to incredible selfishly(male sexually) motivated standards of beauty…this is connected to genital mutilation, which is also a form of female subjugation…if women do not feel sexual pleasure they will not run from impotent husbands..will not seek their own gratification…and Renee women do not wear heels for minutes at a time…they wear them day in and day out over a lifetime…ask your grandma to show you her bunions…heels have been empirically shown to in fact damage feet…and yes while we are at it breast implants are just another conformity to an unreal standard..
we do not ‘choose’ we are bombarded with computer-altered images in ads and ever so subtly brainwashed..
though not nearly as much, men too…why must a balding man wear fake hair?…how would a man feel if his wife told him that his penis was too small…she would love him better if it were fatter and longer?…to disform it so she could have stronger orgasms?…tell me, does silicone inside a plastic bag really feel incredible?
is there really anything sexier than a man or woman who knows their worth, carries themselves with joy and confidence, cares for their body thru exercise, healthy diet, some kind of spiritual practice?
If you think about it things we use today like tattoo’s and lipo-suction are like the same thing they did 1000 years ago so really it’s no different but i would never bind my feet no matter what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes im back. the subject of foot bindings keeps brining me back here, i have learned a lot over the past weeks about foot bindings and what had happened back then to the Chines women becuase men though that it was the way of beauty. it makes me wonder if there was things that the men had to do in order to be superior but so far i haven’t found anything. if any of you guys find anything that would help me with my power point [[20-30 slides]] i would very much appreciate it considering i need a good grade on this and can only find very limited information. thanks to all
-stef
Oh my gosh this is so sick -.- I cant understand what beauty standards are there in the past. Like, why they have to bind their feet to meet the past “beauty standards”. It’s so
I learned about this in history class today, as soon as I got out I wasn’t hungry for lunch anymore! That is disgusting though. Some women are still doing this today! If that ment beauty then i’d rather have what they call “big, ugly feet!” My history teacher said that it is torture to the women that can’t walk without someone helping them! They have to take mincing steps! back in old age China this would take place when a girl was 3-11 years old! I’ll pass for binding my foot.
What can I say? I am completely horrified at this self mutilating action, even if it was a cultural phenomenon. My heart was already saddened by previous literature online, as I sought to understand the reasoning behind such torture when I came upon this site. I realized that the damage was irreversible, ugly, no matter how hard one may attempt to convince us otherwise. I came to this site, because I was looking to see if anyone online viewed today’s “binding’s” as being any different, e.g. high heel shoes, bras, corsets, pantyhose, and what I found online surprised me. The various viewpoints do seem quite personal in nature, and yet there seems to be the undeniable aspect that no matter when, or whom, we as humans have done some very strange things to ourselves for vastly different reasons. Why do we do this? Some say it is because we want to be accepted by society as a whole, or perhaps we intend to distinquish ourselves from one another. There is a glaring indifference to the well being of the soul and mind by such actions-even if one believes that this indifference can be taken care of by outer adornment, self-disfigurement, etc. This seems to be the ongoing problem of the human race since who knows when, but it’s there; we are unhappy people as a whole, who try to be different and end up being the same after all, not satisfied with the most basic part of our humanity which is our appearance. I am not seeking to offend any, it’s just obvious that all of us suffer from this in one form or another to varying degrees. This should be a lesson for all of us.
i agree with hp. it was 1000 years of stupidity. their feet aren’t even close to pretty.
I’m in seventh grade, too. My teacher assigned my friend and I foot binding. It’s simply horrific! It scares me that it was still legal and widely used so recently. I guess that’s just pressure to do what is socially correct. No matter how awful it may be.
the women had no choice, they were forced to have their feet bound…if you didnt you wouldnt get maried…MALE DOMINANCE…the women couldnt walk and had to rely completely on their husbands to even walk for some of them…it became a status symbol because the slaves did not have their feet bound…they were already below men…if you didnt have your feet bound, you were as low as a slave…sad…
high heels were created to make woman’s butts look bigger and to make it harder for them to run fast, because if youve ever tried to walk in heels, especially those skinny 5 inch heels, its hard, but obviously not as hard as with bound feet. its the same thing with plastic surgery, women changing themselves to feel more secure because they think theyre not beautiful or good enough. You dont see men getting plastic surgery do you? or wearing thongs? or shaving their legs? which is actually annoying because you get lazy and dont feel like shaving, and one time this guy actually commented on my stubbly legs (i hadnt shaved for like 2 days…). and guys can just throw on whatever they want and not brush their hair or wear makeup
Sparky, stop whining. You don’t have to shave, or have plastic surgery or wear those heels. You do it because you want to attract men. Guys like it so you do it. If you can’t run with heels, take them off. It is not the same thing as chinese foot binding which was done to little girls who had no choice in the matter. However, you do have a choice.
I would like to respond to those who have posted that foot binding was practiced only by the wealthy. Although the practice began with the nobility and wealthy, foot binding was eventually practiced by virtually all classes in China. Only the poorest families would not bind the feet of their daughters because without tiny feet the daughters could not hope to make an advantageous marriage. While wealthy ladies with bound feet had maids to take care of them, the maids taking care of those wealthy ladies also had bound feet. And women in tiny villages would be working in rice fields, tending animals, walking to the market, and “running” after children with deformed and painful feet.
Hey well i think that even though that these people do a certain thing to look pretty, who are we to tell them what they can and cannot do. Each culture all around the world has a different way of expressing beauty, and even if it is really gross, they might think it is a beauty. We have to understand that women in some countries have no rights, and that is just is how it is. We cannot judge what we see, just because it is different, it is just not fair. Each of us are unique and different, and how else are we going to express our beauty. expressing beauty is a part of a human longing, we all want to be accepted, and we all want to earn resect, and do what is best, so foot binding, even thought it is really disgusting, i cannot judge or say if it is wrong or not, because it is just not my place personally to judge other countries ideas of beauty.
I just finished reading a book from the perspective of a woman who had this done when she was seven. She explained that the finished size of her bound feet would impress her future in-laws in many ways including her ability to comply and deal with labor pains. High heels don’t even live in my house, I can’t imagine how painful this must have been.
How Sad!!
I think that everyone is encoutered to there opionion and mike’s opionion makes perfect since if he thinks that what cynthia said was out of line he has the right to speak…….I think that the pictures are cruel and very much painful,but if that was what beauty was back then….then what can we do about it…the past is the past.
Wow, isn’t this amazing? I love this woman’s feet–they seem completely perfect! Certainly they are perfect examples of bound feet, which is probably why she overcame her shyness and showed them. They don’t even have any toes missing, they seem completely clean and perfectly rolled under–and what a nice cleft. So sexy! I wish I had feet like that–I keep tucking my toes under to imagine it, but for some reason I don’t think I’m going to break them–it might be a bit late for that, being 43–and would my friends understand why I broke my own feet, and now I can’t walk? ha ha
I was fascinated and amazed and horrified when I saw these pics a couple of months ago, after reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. But you gotta admit, they’re so . . . cute! Well, I must be slowly recalling my Chinese lives when I had such gorgeous, sought-after, perfect dainty little feet myself, and other lives when my wives did. The other day I had my boyfriend walk on his heels, to see what the “sway” looked like. Ah! So dainty and feminine–I thought for a second he was a lovely Chinese woman from somewhere! LOL
You’re all completely correct about how horrible this practice was. It was absolutely for the purpose of dominating women, and using them as possessions, and if they hurt, well, that was their problem. And you’re completely right about us doing it still today in various ways–the stupidity is not just for women (we do have it worlds better! Though what is this trend of calling grown women “Miss”? Why is looking younger better than being empowered? I wouldn’t mind *looking* younger, and being young in spirit. But grown black men in the US used to be called “boy.” It wasn’t to make them feel youthful, it was to remind them of their place, and that’s how being called “Miss” makes me feel–it jars me every time I hear it), but even other things you never think of are aberrations too–cooking our food, for example–all other species on earth think we’re crazy for that. And recycling toilet water and then adding toxic Fluoride and other stuff to keep us numbed and dumbed–ha ha, joke’s on us. Paying taxes? Not even legal in the US! Call it an enforced tradition, then. What else have we corrupted so far from the Living Waters that we don’t even remember what a normal foot looks like anymore, so to speak?
Let’s maybe think on this, maybe talk to the trees about it. If you can find a tree that remembers.
Well, blessings on every bound foot, every lung clogged with hairspray, every cell-phone-carrying teenager, everyone who’s forgotten that Mother Earth is a living, breathing entity. Let us meditate on that, whatever shape our feet are in–unless they hurt too much to sit still, and then . . . well, God bless us all.
wow!that was a sweet comment….kathrynq…..anyways i totally agree who cares about how it looks that was a turn-on THEN!a lil off track but i think its so childish to insult someone over a computer…thats ridiculous…but her feet are beautiful in soo many ways espically to people back then.
that is so sad i read a story on this and i wanted to research and now i just want to cry
Whoa that is freaky, she looks like a mutant footed woman. (No offense is meant by what I said, but I mean come on…)
It’s shocking to me, how long people can sit here and ramble about this. It happened a long time ago. It’s not still practiced today, so no, they had no free will. It was done for fashion purposes.
I don’t see how heels are nearly the same. If you don’t wear them too often, they don’t do any major harm to your feet. And, you are not forced to wear heels. And, in our society, you are not thought to be “better” for wearing heels. Its a form of fashion, like everything else that we do.
This was a cruel subordination of women…looking back on it. The reason they did it was essentially peer pressure…everybody was doing it and they needed to to be married to a wealthy family.
High heels ARE a less painful version of this. Women wear them to make themselves pretty and be noticed by men. Also someone may not be considered ‘cool’ if they did not wear them. This is just an example of the peer pressure.
I’m sure that long in the future, there will be an article much like this one with a headline relating to one of our harmful fashion practices today.
NOBODY LITERALLY FORCED THEM INTO BINDING…THEY WERE CONVINCED TO DO IT BY EVERYONE AROUND THEM. THE SAME OCCURS IN THE PRESENT.
this is not peer preasure at all lol
its what chinese people called beauty and everyone wanted it if you had big feet you where ugly and no guy would go for you,but if you had small feet you where known as beatiful doesnt matter what you looked liked as long as you had small feet
All of these comments bring to mind the fact that no one has mentioned male circumcision in our “civilized” western countries. Culture, the “norm,” peer pressure–this is an “acceptable” mutation of a male. Why is no one horrified by this practice?
Hey, has anyone read SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN? Well, I’m almost done with it and basically what they do is fold the foot in half and wrap it in bandages that have been soaked in some special mixture, so whan they dry they become even tighter, and all ten toes are broken as well as the arch. The women were also forced to walk on their feet, to break the bones faster. After about 2 yrs of foot breaking, the foot would be healed, at which the girl would be eligible to marry. The feet would then be called “Golden Lilies”. If you didn’t have Golden Lilies, you were worthless, and you would become a servant, and would not marry, because of course what kind of sane man would marry you.(I didn’t really mean that.) In that culture it didn’t matter if you were pretty(although that certainly helped); your whole worth was in your Golden Lilies and how many sons you gave your husband and his family. It WAS fashionable, but you didn’t have a choice, it would be forced upon you if need be.
some people looking at those pictures are laughing and others are thinking what freaks! well you shouldnt be doing either of those things. it was a tradition that they had to do. maybe for fashion maybe not, but you shouldnt be laughing that just means your a prick and if your thinking what freaks….then f**k you!
god.
This was a great website for me to use becuase i have homeowork on this subject. Thanks!! The pictures are cool but i feel bad for the young igirls who were only 4-7 who could no longer dance, run, or basically even walk. But if that is what they did, i understand. I would bind my feet too if my marriage and family was on the line ( i may not like it, but its the right thing to do if you wanted to survive)
It is such a tragic to witness such thoughtless practices that existed as far back as 1000 years ago. I bet it will be a double shock and disheartening fact to those working as a Podiatrist. I wonder if there were the existence of Podiatrist 1000 years ago, I doubt such practice would be so prevalent if the older generations were being educated on the ill effects of binding, sacrificing their health for the sake of conforming to the culture at that time. What a pity !!
Charm007
Ok….well i did a big research paper on chinese foot binding and footbinding is supposibly a genoside of woman. People beileve it was forced apon by a king or something with a foot fetish or a princess with deformed feet that wanted everyone to have feet like her.
For your feet to look like that…you have to tie tight bandages around your feet causing the arch of your foot to break; causing the toes closer to the heel.
It was also forced apon woman so they couldn’t leave their homes so they couldn’t ‘cheat’ on their spouses.
Once it was banned in 1930 in China woman still did it in secrecy and thoughs that lived in two era’s were shunned apon for not binding so they had too. Then when communism took over the woman with bound feet had to work in the fields causing emmense pain, then being shunned for the binding.
This is just another example of difference in culture. They bound their feet in order to marry and look beautiful, and in doing so, it caused damage in later life. Women here get surgery done to look beautiful all over their bodies. Not only is this a huge risk, it’s not good for your body. We are not that different from each other. Both societies trying to make the perfect population. I’m not impling that this was ok, i’m just saying that before we can criticize them for what they did, we should look at the destruction going on right outside our front doors.
jeez can u peeps stop commenting on the fact that her foot isnt cut?
i mean like it drives me crazy!!!!
I am actually glad to see these pictures. This is how we learn history. Through pictures and words. I feel bad for the children subjugated into it though. I mean can you imagine the pain they went through. This process was supposed to be started between the ages of 5 and 7, and the toes of the foot were pushed back into the sole and the arch was broken and then bound with bandages the bandages always got tighter awach time they rewrapped the foot. this was done because it was belived to be beautiful to the men of China. They called it a Golden Lotus shape.
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