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Foot Binding In Ancient China

741 Words3 Pages

In ancient Chinese societies, women learned their roles under the influence of men. The men used several different tactics in order to maintain their power and authority over the women. One such practice involved foot binding. In an article about Chinese culture and its history, Donna Drucker writes that foot binding was designed to weaken but also beautify women. The typical length of a “beautiful foot” was about four inches (Drucker). All women strived to shorten their feet to this size in order to associate their feet with the lotus flower. Scholars believed that men were attracted to this quality of small feet because of its symbolic meaning that related to Chinese literature because foot binding could be related to sensuality and delicacy (Drucker). …show more content…

Because women were unable to walk with the bindings, only the men could leave the household which gave men another empowering quality over women. Women and men in ancient China valued foot binding as if were a part of their religion, and not just a social custom. In fact, it was taboo for women to remove their bindings and for men to see the naked foot; if something like this did happen, it resulted in shame and “loss of face” (Drucker). Foot binding typically appeared in richer and upper class families. The poor could not participate because the women had to work in the fields with their husbands in order to provide a living for the family. The poor women were instead more subject to beatings and abuse if they did not perform the task that the husband requested exactly as he had

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