| Bound feet--prerequisite for landing a husband | |
|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2007 02:26 |   |
 | "A woman with very small feet was considered a very desirable wife." said my great grandma. About 100 years ago, Chinese women were required to bind their feet. The worst thing is not their feet that had to be bound, but their mind was also bound. Although the number of women with bound feet have dwindled to extinction, the painful episode for women was remembered by the history. Bound feet were considered a prerequisite for landing a husband. Custom held, no available man. This is a weird custom. Past has passed. " Bound feet" has become "historical artifacts". Today, not only the feet are unbound, but the mind are freed. Wiithout the tottering atop tiny, pointed feet, women move forward faster in this new era. Women are playing an important role in all aspects of social life. Bound feet has been a past. The reason why I post this thread is to draw people's attention on this issue and reflect on the past. Did any other countries' women also have bound feet? What do you think of Bound Feet? |
| Nov 2, 2007 05:24 | #1 |
| Iceblue, I have walked through many markets in China and seen small shoes for sale. So small they would fit on a young child’s foot. I have never bought any as I can feel the pain that the wearer went through to have them fitted, and have thought that they would bring me bad luck. I have asked many Chinese men who had Mothers and Grandmothers who’s feet where bound why this was so. I have had many explanations like, small voice, small hands and a moon face and foot. The nearest explanation that I was able to get was from a long time friend from Taiwan who had studied ancient history. He told me that the only person aloud to unbind the foot of the Woman was the Husband who would then play with the foot. So there is some sort of sexual connection that I do not understand as I do not have a foot fetish. He would not elaborate any more than this. But there may be a connection between unbinding the feet with the unbinding of the mind of Woman. For some reason there have been Men that have afraid of strong Woman. To me it has always been the greatest aphrodisiac. Dodger. |
| Nov 2, 2007 05:41 | #2 |
| To me it sounds like a cruel practice. Alan. |
| Nov 2, 2007 11:42 | #3 |
| Parents bound their girl babies feet believing it offered the girl a better opportunity for marrying into wealth; or would fetch the father a better price if he sold his daughter as a concubine. While I can understand that the feminist movement might associate unbinding the feet with freeing women's minds, I am not certain the link is completely valid from the historic perspective. Of course, being sold by one's father would certainly give the girl the impression that she was nothing more than a man's possession. ...maybe it is valid ??? Not all Chinese women had bound feet, in fact, most did not because women have always helped with the work in the fields in China. Women with bound feet could not do that work. |
| Nov 2, 2007 15:00 | #4 |
| I find it ironic that the Han people considered themselves more civilized than other ethnic groups. In literature they were advanced but in foot-binding they were the most barbaric. The Han people thought that foot-binding was a mark of high civilization. They laughed at the Hakka minority group because their women worked in the fields and therefore would not bind their feet. They called women with normal feet, "clown feet". I'm glad that finally the Manchurians came in and tried to banish this practice. It was one of the most shameful practices in Chinese history. I can't imagine the suffering those women went through for over a thousand years that this practice was in place. As for men finding it erotic... I don't understand how someone can enjoy another's suffering. An enlightened person should be able to see how much the woman suffered during her foot binding. Some of those women always had infected feet, and the smell of pus following them wherever they went. So, if you were lucky back then, your foot was attractively misshappen. If not, you just walked around on rotting flesh for the rest of your life. As for myself, I have very small feet. If I was alive back then, the guys would have been crazy about me!! But that's very "bian tai" or "perverted" as we say in Mandarin. |
| Nov 2, 2007 20:53 | #5 |
| Do you know Li Yu, the emperor of the Shouthern Tang dynasty? It is said that he likes those women with small feet. Maybe, the bound feet originated in that period. Just as Chynagyrl said, the Manchurians came in and tried to banish this cruel practice. However, they did not abolish bound feet thoroughly. As a man, I never think that bound feet are sexy and attractive. |
| Nov 4, 2007 22:02 | #6 |
| CHYNAGYRL , Wow, quite profound thoughts! You have a good knowledge of Chinese history. "The Han people thought that foot-binding was a mark of high civilization." I rarely heared of this kind of idea. You mean the Han people living in the Ming Dynasty held this view? "As for men finding it erotic... I don't understand how someone can enjoy another's suffering. An enlightened person should be able to see how much the woman suffered during her foot binding. " I agree 100% with you. |
| Nov 6, 2007 03:29 | #7 |
| GUEST13 | Bound feet was a prerequistite for landing a husband. It was really a very cruel practice. What about women in other's Asian coutries? Did they also have to bind their feet? |
| Nov 11, 2007 01:56 | #8 |
| Cruel things happen anytime, anywhere. Just take a look at the present standards of beauty. How many women venture to eat less than their body probably need just trying to be skinny? And now, goes on diet is normal, we don't think it's cruel. But can anyone tell it is not cruel to cut open various parts of body to just take out fat? In order to make certain parts of the body bigger, they would take pills that would hurt their health later, and worse still, they fill something into their body. Binded feet look so ugly to most of us, so that's easy to say it's cruel to bind feet. TO me, our standard of beauty hasn't yet upgraded to a level we should be proud of. We are all part of it. Manchurians didn't do much as you thought. |
| Nov 11, 2007 03:24 | #9 |
| Binding feet was not from their free will. Doing any kind of plastic surgery is. Or is it? |
| Nov 11, 2007 03:45 | #10 |
| GUESTVERB | QUOTE: Binding feet was not from their free will. I don't think so. Women have been driven to do all these since foot-binding time. It was mothers or grandmothers binded their daughters' feet. "Landing a good husband" may be every woman's genuine free will, all that makes it happen might not be. :P |
Page 1 of 3 < Previous Next > Page:
Post a Reply to: Bound feet--prerequisite for landing a husband
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.