Chinese Foot Binding Pain is Beauty?

Before we begin… What do you consider beautiful? Why do you consider some things beautiful and other things ugly? From where did these conceptions/opinions derive? To what lengths would you be willing to go to ensure that you are “beautiful?” How important is it in our society to be considered attractive?

What is Foot Binding? Foot binding was done in China lasting from around 1000 AD – early 1900’s AD. It was the process of breaking the foot bones in young girls, and wrapping them in bandages very tightly so that their feet would stay very, very small. It impacted about 1 billion women

The process The process of foot binding started for the young girls anywhere from the age of four to six. It was done so early in her life so that the arch did not have much time to develop.

The process The daughters' feet would first be soaked in warm water and herbs, caused any dead flesh to fall off. Toe nails cut would be cut as short as possible therefore not allowing them to grow into the foot. Then, the four smallest toes on each foot were broken.

The process Now came the really painful part. The mother wrapped the girl’s feet in bandages, first around the smallest toes and pulled tightly to the heel. Every two days, the binding was removed and rebound. This part of the process went on for two years. By this time her feet were three to four inches long. To assure the feet staying small, the ritual continued for at least ten more years

The Effects The process was very painful, but besides just the pain of the process, there were many after affects that were detrimental to the young girls' health.

The Effects The most common consequence was infection. There were many ways a girl could get an infection. One was the ball of the foot would folding directly into the heel. A second was that the toenails continued to grow, eventually curling into the skin. This led to flesh rotting off, and sometimes even a toe.

The Effects The worst part of the process was that the feet would practically die after three years. The feet being dead caused a terrible smell the girl carried with her everywhere. Diseases followed infections, and death could even result from foot binding

The Effects Women who had their feet bound were more likely to fall, less able to squat, and less able to rise from a sitting position. This put older women at an extremely high risk for hip fractures, infections, and often times death.

Why did it start? Several legends have been passed down on how foot binding originally started. The most common legend is about the Chinese prince Li Yu in the Sung dynasty (AD 960-1280). The prince's concubine, Yao Niang walked so gracefully it appeared as if she was "skimming over the top of golden lilies.” To follow that, the "lily footed" woman became a model for China.

Lilly-feet Foot binding is often referred to as “Lilly” or “Lilly-feet” because of this legend.

Why? Such a painful and crippling tradition was not all for the sake of beauty. There were many reasons mothers made the decision to bind their daughters' feet. For starters, men in China would not marry a woman who did not have bound feet.

Why? Women who did not have their feet bound were viewed as having “clown-feet” and were not fit to be married to any man of rank. If was socially embarrassing and shameful to be discovered without bound feet.

Why? Because women’s feet were bound, they had much less power, and could be easily dominated by their husbands/men in the society. During this period, women were seen as an objects. Appealing to men mattered more to the girls than their health.

Stopping a Custom Foot binding did not stay popular forever. In the mid-1600s the Manchus took over the Yuan dynasty to create the Qing Empire. The Manchus were strongly against foot binding. The Qing Empire began to charge people for having daughters with bound feet and prohibiting it in areas they could control. The practiced nevertheless continued. It had become so much part of the Chinese culture and family traditions, that the government could not stop it.

Stopping a Custom The nationalist revolution helped destroy foot binding for good. In 1911 after the revolution of Sun Yat-Sen, foot binding officially ended, with the exception of some women in the country/rural areas who continued this tradition.

Reflections Foot binding was more than a fashion statement, it was a way of life for about one billion women. It took much more than laws and protests to bring foot binding to an end. Foot binding had higher consequences, greater appeal, and was more desirable than any other practice women implemented to be beautiful in history.

Reflections Foot binding was not just a fashion statement. It had the purpose woman more desirable, increasing her marriageability, and providing her with a higher social status.

Reflections Foot binding physically crippled women, but also crippled Chinese society. Being physically crippled by foot binding, women had little role in the government. It was a custom that started out to define beauty but ended up defining the way the society was.

The shoes

Our Society In our society, do we experience unnecessary pain in order to be beautiful, handsome, or more attractive? What things have we done in the past, and what things do we do know for beauty’s sake?

The Corset

High Heels

Tattoos

Piercings

“Enhancements”

Essay Prompt What is your opinion of Foot Binding? Is it “beautiful?” If you had been born in China when Foot Binding “was all the rage,” do you think you would still find it ugly, or would you find it attractive? What parts of our society compare to Chinese foot binding?