Asian Foot Humiliation (2024)

FAQs

What is Asian foot binding? ›

footbinding, cultural practice, existing in China from the 10th century until the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, that involved tightly bandaging the feet of women to alter their shape for aesthetic purposes.

Asian feet are to begin with much smaller than western feet, on average about 2 cm shorter. Moreover, the instep is lower, they are wider and less bony, plus the heels are more cupped if you see them in profile, which can make a difference between Asian manufacturers' shoes and European.

But for author Yang Yang, whose mother had bound feet, the reality was far more prosaic. "The bandages that women used for footbinding were about 10 feet long, so it was difficult for them to wash their feet," Yang says. "They only washed once every two weeks, so it was very, very stinky.

I've often heard comparisons of this strange and extreme practice with the modern day wearing of high, uncomfortable shoes by women. In reality there IS no comparison. Foot binding was incredibly painful and quite barbaric and caused long-term, irreparable damage.

"Asian feet tend to be slightly broader in the forefoot and they have a lower arch profile," says Hong Kong podiatrist Alexandra Duff, who has been practicing for 15 years. In fact, she says, about 80% of Asians are flat-footed -- more than any other ethnic group.

Beauty and erotic appeal

For many, the bound feet were an enhancement to a woman's beauty and made her movement more dainty, and a woman with perfect lotus feet was likely to make a more prestigious marriage.

Foot binding was outlawed in China 103 years ago, following almost 10 decades of the practice. But the last factory producing “lotus shoes” – the triangular embroidered platforms used to showcase the women's minuscule pointy feet – closed just six years ago.

Once a girl's foot had been crushed and bound, attempting to reverse the process by unbinding was painful, and the shape could not be reversed without a woman undergoing the same pain again. The timing and degree of footbinding varied among communities.

The girls, naturally, developed a peculiar way of walking—almost as if they had hooves. And in order to facilitate moving around, women with bound feet developed strong muscles in their hips, thighs, and buttocks, so much so that these characteristics were considered physically attractive to the Chinese men of the era.

In China, the practice is now illegal but there are still cases of women and girls who continue to bind their feet. In other parts of the world, such as India and Nepal, the practice is not illegal and it is often done as a form of cultural expression.

Is foot binding unhealthy? ›

The process involved folding the toes under the sole and wrapping them tightly with cloth or ribbons, causing lifelong physical deformities, pain, and mobility issues. It is now widely recognized as a harmful and painful tradition and is no longer practised.