Below, I have included excerpts from the articles and a few pictures. Oh yea, no doubt about it...you - will - wince!
According to Nadine Kim; Historians have tried to explain foot-binding in terms of a culture's standard of beauty or as a way of holding a woman to a household, but these explanations seemed to lack the kind of power that would sustain a custom for several centuries. Just think of how many times the beauty ideal has changed in this country within the last 100 years, from voluptuousness to fitness to heroin chic.
Some estimate there are still about a million women in China with bound feet. Although the custom was banned by the Communists in 1949, Beverly Jackson (curator of the Chinese collection at the Santa Barbara Historical Society Museum) said the practice continued in some areas until 1957.
Contrary to belief that binding started in infancy, Jackson said it was started at age 6 to give the foot's arch time to develop. Feet were wrapped in cotton, with only the big toe left free. In time, the bandage was wrapped tighter until the other toes were broken and forced flat against the soles. The ideal was a 3-inch foot called san zun jin lian, or golden lily, and woe to the girl whose future mother-in-law was allowed to do the binding.
Lisa See said, “We don’t have to look very far to know what women will do to themselves to make them conform to what their society considers to be beautiful.”
The history of Chinese foot binding is such that; if I bound up and broke my feet to fit into 3" size shoes (baby doll size mind you) all for the reason of finding a suitable mate...someone please whack me over the head and drag me to a "Safe Place" (like the kind of place with nice white padded walls). I am a firm believer if we do not stand for what is right, just & true and bring injustice to light than history WILL repeat itself.
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Blog you later,
Tammy
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1 comment:
Wow! That first picture - I thought I was looking at a child at first, then I started to read. This is amazing and a bit grotesque. I'm even more greatful that I live in America, where I can where flip flops, a pony tail, no makeup if I choose & my husband still loves me all the same. It is truly amazing what these women have done to themselves. I can't believe they can even walk after that. Its similar to those in I think - somewhere in africa, that wear those rings around their necks & they keep adding more rings as they get older, it stretches out their necks and deforms there beautiful bodies. Interesting article - Thank you
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