Chinese culture is famous for its rich traditions. However, as is the case in many societies, some of them may seem like a real absurdity to modern people. One such practice was “foot binding”, which made the foot tiny and graceful, attractive to Chinese men. This method also had other goals related to sexuality.
History and traditions of the “bandaged leg”
The practice of “foot binding” had its roots in the ancient Chinese empire and was closely tied to the cultural and aesthetic standards of the time. It was believed that the smaller a woman’s leg, the more successfully she would marry.
Basically, this was the fate of aristocrats, but peasant girls were also subjected to such torments from the age of 5. So in the family of one daughter, their feet were bandaged, while other girls enjoyed the simple opportunity to walk normally. At the same time, the legs often began to rot and rot, causing physical discomfort and terrible pain.
This is how a Chinese woman describes this process: “I was told that a girl has to suffer twice: when her ears are pierced and the second time when she is bandaged.” The latter began on the second lunar month; mother was consulted by directories about the most suitable day. I ran away and hid in a neighbor’s house, but my mother found me, scolded me and dragged me home. She slammed the bedroom door behind us, boiled water, and took bandages, shoes, a knife, and needle and thread from a drawer. I begged to postpone it at least for a day, but the mother said as she snapped: “Today is an auspicious day. If you bandage today, then you will not be hurt, but if tomorrow, it will hurt terribly. She washed my feet and applied alum and then trimmed my nails. Then she bent her fingers and tied them with cloth three meters long and five centimeters wide – first the right leg, then the left. After it was all over, she ordered me to walk, but when I tried to do it, the pain seemed unbearable,” writes Andrea Dworkin in “Gynocide, or Chinese Foot Binding.”
Such legs have been one of the opportunities to get into the Chinese harem since the beginning of the 10th century. After all, it was the “golden lotuses” (the so-called ideal foot size up to 10 centimeters) that decided the fate of a Chinese woman. The judges selected applicants for the harem, commenting on the size, shape and decoration of the legs and shoes, not paying attention to appearance in general. And since the shape of the leg and the methods of bandaging were different, not everyone was able to achieve an ideal result.
“Bandaging” and sexual overtones
In China, there was a prejudice that girls with small legs are more sensual and passionate, namely, bandaging the legs changes the shape of the vagina, creating a marvelous shape that the owners of harems dreamed of.
“There was a saying: the smaller the leg, the more passion. Therefore, marriages in Tatung, where this tradition was most common, were concluded earlier than anywhere else. Women in other regions could temporarily give the folds the same shape, but it was believed that this could only be truly achieved by “legbinding”, which concentrated the tension in one place. The folds were formed sequentially, layer by layer, and those who personally felt this during sexual relations experienced unearthly pleasure. So the system of footbinding was not oppressive at all,” writes Howard S. Levy in Chinese Footbinding: The Story of a Curious Erotic Custom.
Doctors confirm that this was one of the conjectures. Andrea Dworkin writes about it. Foot binding had no physiological effect on the vagina. This practice may have influenced the shape of the pelvis, but had no effect on the woman’s genitals. Belief in the miraculous folds of the vagina of a woman who performed the rite of “legbinding” was, in fact, a mass delusion and a projection of sexual desires.
Rather, this practice tied a woman to the house, did not allow her to move normally, made her an erotic doll for a man.
The practice of “foot binding” was a unique phenomenon in Chinese history related to the cultural and aesthetic standards of the time. It may have seemed the norm in its era, but today it looks like the oppression of women. Doctors have refuted its effectiveness and questioned all the sexual myths associated with it.
It should be noted that this tradition is long gone, and modern Chinese society evaluates beauty and women’s health in a different way.
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2023-09-03 22:34:00
