lotus feet

my reflection paper on foot binding..

History has witnessed how people of all generations had strived to achieve one common goal: beauty. Judging on beauty rituals and practices from before (such as piercing, neck elongation, body tattoos which are still done today) up to now (such as bikini waxing, the use of uncomfortable high heels and plastic surgery) it seemed that perceived beauty follows the adage: No Pain, No Gain.

Perhaps one of the most excruciating of all was the practice of foot-binding of the Chinese women. This act was performed to stop the growth of the feet as it was assumed that small feet equals beauty. On that time then, it seemed that the feet matter more than the face did... small feet were considered a symbol of femininity and grace, traits that according to social construct every woman must possess among other factors.

So why did the Chinese women had their feet bound? It was really not a matter of desire (who would want to walk in feet 3 inches long and not be able to move about normally?), they had no choice. Aside from beauty, there actually were more factors involved: marriage, sex and status.

It has to do with marriage. During those times, if a woman’s feet are not bound she would either get married to a tribesman from an ethnic minority group or not marry at all. This may just imply that the marriages of that time generally had the women dominated by their husbands. I think that women’s feet were bound so the husbands need not worry that their wives would take away their power (because they know that the women can).

The lotus feet were also an identification of social status. As having lotus feet means a high rank in the society, poor people desired their feet bound in order to improve their status. But I think as their feet were bind, they could no longer do the things normal people do, have normal jobs to support their living and not just depend on their husbands to provide for them. Because of their lotus feet there was little room for these women to succeed. They were seen merely as objects, to be observed, as being beautiful was prioritized more than their health and was even more important actually having a life.

Finally, it also had something to do with sex, as the foot (on that time) was considered to be the ultimate erogenous area of the body. It has been said that Chinese men were not allowed to see a woman’s feet without its cover to maintain its mystery. This “concealed feet mystery” was considered to be erotic to the men but if you expose them feet the original sexual feeling will be destroyed. I think this holds true up to this time (the idea that “more is less”). An example would be the models in billboards. The bodies of the models would be covered on all the right places (such as the breast and genitals area) to create that “mysterious effect.” The idea that one knows that the breast and the sex organs are just there, underneath those covers, plays with the imagination of the viewer and creates that sexual feel.

The lotus feet of the Chinese women not only show how torturing it was for them in the physical aspect, but also how tragic it was for them to live in this socially manipulated world.