CHINA

   It has been interested in reading about the formation of our cultures as humans. We have really created a lot of social rule along the way. The one thing that was appalling to me though was the practice of binding the feet of a Chinese women in the name of beauty and status. This was painful and what where they thinking?Women have had such a hard time since the beginning of time, and this seems like torture to me.

   This practice started in the "golden age" of the Song dynasty. Chinese women of the Tang dynasty influence, in the north participated in this practice.  Confucian writers highlighted the subordination of women and men to separate them. They felt a boy leads a girl, so a man should lead a women. Men were to be masculine, be able to ride horseback, and have all the values of a warrior. Women were thought to be week,reticence and delicacy. (pg,371,Strayer)

    Foot binding began with the dancers and courtesans in the 10th and 11th centuries. This is were a tight wrapping was placed on a young girls feet to keep her feet small. This also broke her bones, and causing her lots of pain. This practice spread widely among the elite families and later became more wide spread in Chinese society.It was associated with with images of beauty, and eroticism emphasizing small size, frailty, and deference. It served to keep women restricted to the inner quarters.Many mothers would did this to enhance their daughters marriage prospects, and to get attention from their husbands.These women who practiced this binding of the feet became a right to passage and a source of pride of their tiny feet and beautiful slippers. Foot binding also distinguished these  Chinese women from their barbarian counterparts (commoners and peasants). (pg 372,Stayer)

    To me this practice was unnecessary and Chinese women are beautiful without altering their bodies. Not to mention it doesn't look right, how can this possibly be attractive?While, I understand why they did this (from the read), I don't understand why they felt they had to put their young women though this and deforming their feet. Of course, I'm a modern American women who would never consider this for my daughter, she already has beautiful feet nature gave her.