While I was doing some light research for yesterday's post, I stumbled upon this book. It immediately caught my eye because of its comparison of the Chinese foot binding tradition to modern high heels. Now, I have no idea how much the author actually explores this in her book, but the very thought intrigued me enough to purchase (if not at a much discounted rate on Amazon) the book. There are many theories as to why Chinese women bound their feet for a thousand years. It was so much a part of their culture, that even when it was finally outlawed, many girls still bound their feet, believing that the government could not permanently prevent them from doing so. One of these theories was that it was a form of oppressing women so they were forced to rely one hundred percent upon them. But was this really the case? I am sure that it had to be at least a part of it, but if we take a look at what women do today . . . I have to admit I am not a hundred percent convinced that it is the true story. For men, the bound foot was the most erotic part of the female body. So much so that he would never, ever, see his wife's unbound foot. If a girl wanted to marry well, she had to have small feet.
Just like the author of Splendid Slippers, I will compare this to women wearing heels today. I myself own no fewer than 20 pairs of heels. All of which I adore. I love how pretty they are, plus they make me look and feel good. (Who doesn't love gaining an extra few inches by just slipping on a shoe?) They bend and contort my feet in all sorts of unnatural ways, and by the end of a long night of wearing them, my feet are tired and a bit achy. I cannot walk as fast, no, but there is a different power to my stride, a confidence and, if I must say it, swag, to my gait. No pair of sneakers could ever do that. But I do not do this for any man. There is no one forcing me to contort my feet and balance on 6 inch heels, no one saying I am any less for not wearing them. I do it for me. I already have a man, who I caught all on my own, in loose jeans and a t-shirt. He doesn't need them. I am certainly not trying to attract a second man, nor if I did not have one, would I feel the need to slip on a pair of heels, and flaunt myself about town until I did.Either way, I wear them. Some historian a hundred years from now might look at those very heels and say the same things about me that they say about the Chinese women who bound their feet. What if they felt the same way I do? That it is just pretty? That the pain is worth it to have the confidence to know that you look good?
I cannot say for sure if this is true of those who bound their feet. But I do believe that some aspects of history are lost in the preconceived notions of today. A huge aspect of why they mutilated their feet was to attracted a good husband. But this does not necessarily mean that they were being oppressed. Doesn't everyone want to be happy? Doesn't everyone, in the end, want to find that certain someone with whom they can spend the rest of their lives? Male and female?
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