Gallery Carre
Two stories about Feet Binding
Mar 21st, 2007 by Viviane
Radio and photo essays about footbinding survivors who live in Liuyicun village, Yunnan Province, China:
Painful Memories for China’s Footbinding Survivors (NPR):
“Suffering for beauty is a concept familiar to most women, who have dyed, plucked or shaved their hair, squeezed their feet into uncomfortable high heels or even surgically enhanced parts of their anatomy. Millions of Chinese women went even further — binding their feet to turn them into the prized “three-inch golden lotuses.”"
Feet Binding (Yahoo)
While I loathe and detest the practice of foot-binding, it continued for many of the same reasons as female “circumscision.” Both practices relied on the willing acceptance by adult females who did not want their daughters ostracized from society and unable to marry.
One of the things that distinguished the Manchu women of the Qing Dynasty was their “big” feet, since Manchus did not practice the barbaric custom. That didn’t stop Manchu princes from wanting Chinese wives and concubines.
In a related story, the NY TIMES reports that the Manchu language has all but died out in China.
Kudos to you, Viviane, for your always eclectic, ever fascinating review of interesting material.