Across the
globe men and women practice a series of biocultural
modifications as directed by the cultural norms that they follow. These practices are meant to convey a specific
status, ethnicity, beauty standard, or other message. As previously discussed on this blog there is
a price
to pay to meet cultural beauty standards, particularly among women. This price may not necessarily be monetary in
nature but instead is related to negative health outcomes from changing the
natural form of one’s body. Manipulating
the female body was common practice for the Chinese for many centuries, and
today’s blog post will discuss the practice of foot binding, aka Chinese Lotus Foot
(Figure 1). A review of the origins,
purpose, methods, and ultimate end of the practice will be addressed herein. Before you go much further, however, readers
are warned that this post does contain graphic content and images that may make
you uncomfortable, so please read this post at your own discretion.
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| Figure 1: Zhang Yun Ying shows off her Lotus Feet (Photographed by Jo Farrell) |
The practice
of binding women’s feet in China began sometime between A.D. 961-975. Historical evidence
suggests that the Emperor’s concubine, who was a devoted dancer in his court,
had bound feet, which were required for her to participate in certain
dances. He was so enamored by her feet that
he claimed that by being in contact with them he reached new levels of sexual pleasure
that he had not previously experienced.
Shortly thereafter elite women began to have their feet bound to mimic
that same level of attractiveness and foster that level of sexual prowess the
Emperor’s concubine boasted. Bound feet became
a symbol of beauty, sexual prowess, and elite status. As time went on lower class women began binding
the feet of their daughters in order to ensure their place among upper class families
through marriage. These ideas prevailed until
the eventual ban of the practice by the British and Communists in the early 20th
century. Several cultural informants
reported the loss of successful marriage opportunities and feeling less attractive
when they were no longer allowed to bind their feet.
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| Figure 2: Changes to the anatomy of the foot related to foot binding |
Similar to many
other biocultural modifications foot binding started during childhood. Some girls started as early as age five while
others began the practice during their adolescence. The average ages for when foot binding occurred
was from six to eight years of age. The
process involved a series of steps, first beginning with the ritual bathing of
the feet. The feet would be massaged
with oils and toe nails clipped. Either
the eldest women of the household or a professional foot binder would be responsible
for reshaping the foot, which involved breaking of the toes and other parts of
the foot. These would be bent under the
foot into the arch, which would also eventually be broken through this multi-step
process, and bringing all of the parts of the foot together for a tiny, crescent
shape (Figure 2). The foot would then be
tightly bound in ten feet of silk wrappings and covered with special lotus shoes
(Figure 3). The feet would be cleaned
every few days to reduce infection, but these remained common and many women
lost toes as a result of the practice.
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| Figure 3: Lotus Shoe |
It is
estimated that millions (although potentially billions) of women underwent this
exercise in order to ensure a suitable marriage partner. Families who could afford a matchmaker for
their sons would often only request one thing of their future daughters-in-law:
the golden lotus. This referred to the
size of the foot and smaller was considered better. The golden lotus foot was no more than 3
inches in length and considered paramount in providing sexual pleasure to men. Feet that were four inches in length were
known as a silver lotus and less desired.
Women with feet five inches or longer were considered to have iron
lotuses and not considered proper marriage partners. They were typically married off to lower
status households, thereby ensuring a poor lifestyle and marriage. Because of the emphasis on marrying well
women often encouraged the pain and sacrifice, which included loss of appetite,
an inability to move during the process, and reduced mobility afterwards, incurred
by this practice to ensure a happy and prosperous marriage, although that did
not always work out even for women with the golden lotus feet. One cultural informant reported that she was married
off to a wealth man with an opium addiction, which left her very unhappy.
The practice
was banned in the early 20th century, first by the British and later
by the Communists. The British would
send out agents who would inspect women’s feet, but they did a poor job of this
as the practice continued in secret for several years. The Communists, however, were more thorough
in their investigations. They demanded
to see women’s feet and would remove the bindings when they found feet
bound. They also levied heavy fines
against families who continued the practice.
As a result the only women who still have bound feet are elderly women,
and they and their stories are disappearing as they pass away from old
age. Cultural anthropologists,
archaeologist, and historians have managed to collect the stories and
historical records of this practice, providing us a rich collection of
materials on this topic that we can draw upon to learn about and understand
this practice. While the practice has
been long discontinued it does provide us with a great deal of insights into
the values of Chinese culture, and how we, as humans across the globe, still
equate beauty with pain.
References
Cartwright, M. (2017, September 27). Foot-Binding.
Retrieved from Ancient History Encyclopedia:
https://www.ancient.eu/Foot-Binding/
Foreman, A. (2015, February). Why Footbinding
Persisted in China for a Millennium. Retrieved from Smithsonian Magazine:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-footbinding-persisted-china-millennium-180953971/
Lim, L. (2007, March 19). Painful Memories for
China's Footbinding Survivors. Retrieved from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942
No, A. (No Date.). Chinese Girl with Bound Feet.
Retrieved from The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/chin/foot.html
Xiu-ying, L. (2007). Women with Bound Feet in
China. Retrieved from Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health
Sciences Library University of Virginia:
http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/clothes/lady_bound/
