In Reply to: Re: foot binding of women posted by Jill on January 18, 2002 at 23:18:48:
: Hi!as you asked i will help you with foot binding.
: FOOT BINDING STARTED IN CHINA DURING THE HAN DYNASTY. MEN FOUND IT ATTRACTIVE I MEAN WOMEN WITH SMALL FEET. WHAT THEY DO IS WHEN YOU ARE A CHILD THAY SOAK THERE FEET THEN THEY TAKE THEY PART WHERE YOUR TOES ARE AND PUSH REALLY HARD AND BIND IT TO MAKE IT ABOUT 3 TO 4 SIZES SMALLER MABEY MORE
: I WILL SEND YOU A PIC
There is so much more to the binding of feet though! Yes as a young girl they bind your feet by completely bending the toes under the foot. Of course this crushes the bones in the toes. Binding is a very painful experience, for obvious reasons, but the women also had to change the cloths on their feet. Taking off the cloth was actually very painful as the blood suddenly flowed to the bound areas of the feet. Imagine your leg "falling asleep" from lack of blood. Imagine the feeling 100 times worse/more painful. That's what it would feel like. As said from another comment, the binding of feet was found attractive by men, but it was also a show of status. since women with bound feet cannot walk much(or work much), it shows that they are at a high enough status that they dont have to work.
I wouldnt be the least bit surprised if there was even more info on this subject, but what i know i have been told by my late great grandmother, who had her own personal experiences with bound feet.
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