Chinese Footbinding
...about anything- good, evil, or in-between for sex. Footbinding is a very bold issue that many Chinese do not like to talk about. Some men felt troubled because it suggests that men are capable of using their superior social position to coerce women to conform to a grotesque and deformed custom. Women are uncomfortable because it is unsettling to think that their ancestors crippled their own daughters just to meet a social standard behavior. In the past Chinese pornography reflected a preoccupation with feet and the men who adore them called "lotus lovers". It became the signature of the Brothel culture. Prostitutes would expose their feet "in a private chamber" where it was customary for the man to linger over the girl's feet, stroking, sniffing and licking them and even dipping them in tea before drinking it. A favorite delight was to eat almonds from between her crushed toes. Tiny feet were found in the writing of poetry and songs in old China (Vento, 3-4). With the body weight on the heels, the walk caused the muscles of the vagina to tighten, Chinese men claimed that making love to a woman with bound feet was like making love to a virgin. The important part of the foot was the crevice that was created by breaking the arch during the original binding process. This crevice was sometimes treated like a second vagina in lovemaking (Jackson, 108). In western society we also admire the small foot, some women wear their shoes a size too small. In Victorian days the women would bind their waists in 14 inch corsets, cutting off their breathing and damaging their organs (Kam, D-1). Some women today have breast implants knowing they risk getting cancer. Some women and men go to ridiculous lengths to fit in with societies values. The beauty of bound feet was a value deeply rooted in the Chinese sexual psyche (McDowell, 63-64). The feet were only unbound for cleaning and for love making. This allowed men to fantasize about the feet. They were told that looking at an unwrapped bound foot would forever destroy their aesthetic pleasures (Seagrave, 9). To this day elderly Chinese men will look at a women's feet before he does her face. The girls were bound at the early age to take advantage of the softness of their bones. Before beginning the actual binding, the feet would be soaked in warm water to soften the skin. Various ingredients were added such as ground almonds, mulberry root, and other roots and herbs, thought to have helped in the softening of the skin in order to allow for a better binding. The families would pass on from generation to generation their special soaking recipes. Warmed animal blood was another soaking potion. In the Shanxi Province, the practice of sacrificing a lamb and placing the child's feet inside was not uncommon. In Jiangxi Province, a live chicken would sometimes be used in the same manner (Jackson, 32). Part of creating a small foot also involved the loss of flesh that would rot away. The footbinder would use a bandage approximately two inches wide and ten feet long. The four toes would be forced under the foot towards the sole of the foot. The bandage would be placed against the instep and wrapped over the toes , holding them against the sole. The bandage would be wrapped back around the heel, pulling the heel and toes together. The heel ultimately took the shape of a flattened saucer (Jackson, 34). The bindings were often sewn together with heavy thread to keep them from unraveling and , more importantly to keep the little girl from loosening them. While walking the weight would be placed on the heel. The severe pain lasted about a year. However, the pain did not completely disappear until the child's bones quit growing. The feet would be washed and rebound about every 3 days. Every 2 weeks they would change shoes, each new pair would be one or two tenths smaller (Ferguson, 1). The ideal foot was the 3 inch long golden lily, however, this was rare and those who did accomplish this task usually married into the upper class of people (Kam, D-6). Matchmakers were not asked "Is she beautiful" but "How small are her feet". They believed that the face was given by heaven but a poorly bound foot was a sign of laziness. Complications such as ulceration's, paralysis and gangrene we not uncommon. The foot was often washed separate from the rest of their body to shield themselves from contamination (Vento, 2-3). It was the custom to place a 2 1/2 inch shoe on an altar for the goddess Kwan Yin the night before their daughter's feet were bound. Also a pen point was held in the girl's hand on the first binding because of the belief that the feet migh...