Foot Binding is Viewed Differently in Different Cultures

The feet of little girls between the ages of three and five were bound tight with strips of cloth to retard growth. The arch was broken; the four smaller toes were broken and folded under the palm of the feet so that the feet resembled half-moons. It was an extremely painful process that was perpetuated in the name of beauty. It was only during the revolution of 1911 that the practice was finally banned.

According to Mackie (1996: 1001) the practice of foot binding spread from the imperial palace, transmitting down through the classes until it was nearly universally adopted. Thus, foot binding can be seen as symbolising one's status. Foot binding came to symbolise gentility, and it was only the absolute lowest of the lower class who were the exception to the convention. Such destitute individuals could not afford for female family members to be foot-bound when their manual labour was needed (Mackie 1996: 1001). However, to avoid such disgrace, many poor families preferred to “struggle along for a precarious living, bringing up their daughters with small feet” (Doolittle 1865: 201). This is in keeping with Veblen's (1934) view that foot binding is a costly display of a family's wealth (Mackie 1996: 1002). Likewise in Africa, female mutilation reportedly spread partly due to individuals wanting to emulate their higher status neighbours who had already adopted the practice (Mackie 1996: 1004). In addition to symbolising wealth, Mackie suggests that female mutilation symbolises a family's commitment to values of purity and chastity (Mackie 1996: 1000, 1008). Given the costs and risks associated with female mutilation, that a family would choose to commit to the practice shows how willing they are to ensure that males can be confident in terms of paternity. With this intention, female mutilation can be seen as symbolising a female's purity and future fidelity (Mackie 1996:

In the Body Rituals Among the Nacirema, both men and women believe that “they lack frequency.” In order for them to believe that they are to their standards and others standards perceived as beautiful, they undergo sadism and masochistic rituals performed by highly trained specialist to enhance one’s look. The people of the tribe change their bodies via enhancement to look like a representation of a doll “outside the range of human variation,” says Miner.

Family and culture is shown negatively in this story when the narrator learns about her grandmother’s bound feet and has to change her life to benefit her family. An example is, “Disappointment made me protest. ‘But you said I had to give up the lessons so we could bring her from Hong Kong,’ I said. ‘Well, she’s here.’ Dad hesitated and then set the boxes down. ‘Try to understand, hon. We’ve got to set your grandmother up in her own apartment. That’s going to take even more money.’” (Yep 32 and 33). This shows how the narrator had to stop taking dance lessons because they had to use the money from the dance lessons to help a certain family member. It impacted the narrator’s life negatively because she could no longer dance even though it was probably one of her favorite activities to do. In addition, “However, she wasn’t quick enough, because I saw her bare feet for the first time. Her feet were like taffy that someone had stretched out and twisted. [...] “There was a time back in China when people thought women’s feet had to be shaped a certain way to look beautiful. When a girl was about five, her mother would gradually bend her toes under the sole of her foot” (Yep 69 and 76). This demonstrates how the narrator learned about the Chinese tradition of foot binding when her mother had to explain to her why her grandmother’s feet were abnormal after she

Details from Ning Lao’s life are often laid out in this way throughout the first few sections of the book. During Ning Lao’s childhood she is explained to be a very active child which causes her parents to wait until she is seven years old to start binding her feet. Ning Lao explained her experience:

An article about the very last know women who have had their feet bound; talks about the real beauty behind it. The woman by the name of Jo Ferrell has been traveling the world trying to uncover the journey a women goes through by having her feet bound. He first subject was a women named Zhan Yun Ying who is in her 90s and one of the last woman who have bound feet. "When she took her shoes and socks off, her feet were totally, fully in lotus shape. To me, they represented the trouble and toil this woman [has] been through—and what women do go through—to attract a partner…

“Bound Feet”, by Jung Chang, explains that women in China who had bound feet brought happiness to themselves and their family, it was, also, very attractive to men. Chang says in the essay that her grandmother had to go through the long, painful process of having her feet be bound. As much as she begged and pleaded her mother to stop, she had not. Her mother would only loosen the cloth to go to bed, but it was never removed. The cloth, says Chang, when taken off was “covered in rotting flesh and stank”. It was said that women in China who did not have bound feet when they got married, the groom’s family would disapprove of the bride, and it would bring shame to the bride and groom’s family. Chang’s grandmother was the last in her family to

In an account of her grandmother’s life, Pang-Mei Natasha Chang establishes the story of how Chang Yu-i continually challenged guidelines set by old Chinese traditions. Chang describes her grandmother as different than Chang Yu-i’s sister. She speaks to the author in a more modernized tone compared to the rest of her family members, as well as acts “more masculine” than her sisters. Chang Yu-i starts off by telling Pang-Mei Natasha Chang that “a woman is nothing”. (Chang, p.6) From a young age, Chang Yu-i did not have her feet bound. Without the intervention of her brother, her mother would have continued the method to make her feet smaller, on the basis that men prefer small, dainty feet. She was already more free than other women as she did not grow up with that pain. As she grew up, she saw her brothers were being tutored, inspiring her to want an education as well. What was different than her brothers’ educations was the fact that Chang Yu-i begged her father to find her a school or a tutor

Even peasent women had to have their feet bound, so this meant while they were working in the fields, they basically had to crawl. Foot binding was not only for the sake of beauty, but it also served the purpose for the Chinese young girls to be restricted from going out of their houses. This practice lasted for about a thousand years. Thus this unhealthy practice prevented Chinese women from going beyond their homes and thus limited their freedom to gain knowledge from the outside world.

In all societies, it was very common to have unequal treatment to men and women with the justification being the gender. This shaped the attitude and behavior of people. This commonly occurred to values, norms, customs, and laws in all societies. In the traditional Chinese society, it was very common for the bride to obey her parent-in-laws, do housework, and have a low social status within and outside of the household. Ancient China based its livelihood off of Confucian principles. Confucian principles act as a guide for the people to live and behave according to. Confucian principles included relationships such as the relationship of the emperor to his subjects, a father to a son, elder brother to younger brother, husband to wife, and friend to friend. Traditional China functions on these principles to guide the peoples’ lives. Women living in a Confucian society played a limited gender role. Confucian principles were instilled very deeply into the Chinese society; it was practice throughout Chinese history. Some practices of Confucianism are practiced to this day. Women did not share the same privileges as men in a traditional Confucian society because their role was to be the house wife that society shaped them into.

One reason for this process was the purpose of marital reasons. This was the most common reason for one to do foot binding; what men most desired in a bride was a foot size of three inches, also known as the “golden lotus”. It was mildly acceptable for some women to have four-inch-feet, which was known as the “silver lotus”, although for a woman to have five-inch-feet or longer, called the “bronze lotus”, it was simply dismissed and it would be very hard for one to find a husband. The size of their foot was to be very small indeed; for families that had daughters to marry off, the size of their feet was its own form of “currency”. Why they upheld this tradition for so long, was for men to be able to control women during their marriage. They were said to be less independent when their feet were bound. Not only did this process allow men to dominate women, it also made them victims of a society that showed brutality towards women. Some researchers say that foot binding deepened the control of women by making them more dependent on males, because it would minimize their movements and enforce better obedience, since women with bound feet were physically unable to travel far from their homes. This enabled women to have very little authority over their life. Another act of accommodation was the role of family honor installed with the procession. This was the second most common reason for one to do foot binding; by binding their daughter’s feet, families maintained a good reputation and social status. Although foot binding is now looked upon as an act of cruelty, at that time, it was seen as a sign of wealth. It symbolized this for a girl’s family because it showed that they were wealthy by not allowing their daughter to work. For this reason, families would also take pride in the fact of their daughter’s small feet. Foot binding started out as a fashionable statement from the expression

In ancient China girls with small feet had a higher bride price. Foot binding made walking or even moving very hard for women. Since women in this time were ruled by men foot binding was a guaranteed that they wouldn’t flee away from any marriage. “This was a way to ensure that women did not travel away from that control because literally the pain was too great and debilitating to allow them the freedom to be free” (John Mao). All over China men considered tiny feet as a sexual desire that they needed to have. Louisa Lim interviewed a foot binding survivor who describes show size as a high privilege “Millions of Chinese women went even further, binding their feet to turn them into the prized three-inch golden lotuses." Evidence suggests that foot binding originated from the Song dynasty (960-1279 A.D.). It was during the reign of Li Yu when foot binding became so popular it was adopted as a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture. In Aching for Beauty: Foot binding in China, by Ping Wang he describes how

In all countries, there are rituals, myths, and taboo that have been, and continue to be practiced to this day. In the critical thinking, I will be focusing one practice in particular, and that is foot-binding. Foot- binding is known at the cruel breaking and bending of the feet of a female and shoved into a shoe. It started in China in the early 10th century. It was during the reign of Emperor Li Yu after his favorite concubine performed a dance with her feet wrapped into hoof-like shapes. The maidens of the court took notice and began wrapping their feet in a similar fashion. This became a trend to women to show wealth and power starting in the south and moving to the north. Girls as young as 4 would practice this act.

The ancient custom of foot binding was a long standing tradition in China from as early as 700AD to as late as the early 1900s. The practice of breaking a woman's arch in their foot at an early age

China has many and varying customs. One of these could include the binding young girls feet.