Foot Binding in China in Terms of Women’s Rights Research Paper

Introduction

The practice of foot binding in China can be traced back to the Sung Dynasty that prevailed between 960-1280 AD, supposedly as an imitation of an imperial concubine who was required to perform a dance for the emperor with her feet bound, an act, which the emperor regarded as beautiful.

Later, the practice was already widespread in China. In some communities and social groups, it was made mandatory for young girls at the age of 3 years to have their feet bound. It was not until the 20^th century during the end imperialism and the increasing western influence that the culture ceased to be practiced (Cummings, Ling, & Stone, 1997).

It was banned. Besides the painful ordeal that the girls had to go through, the practice left most women in their later stages of life partially and completely disabled (Wilson, 2013). In the past century, China has made remarkable progress in eradicating the practice of foot binding through persistent collaboration between the government and activist groups such as Anti- Foot Binding Society to promote women civil liberty so that the rights of women can be recognized an upheld.

Literature Review

The History of Foot Binding in China and how the Process was carried out

Foot binding is believed to have obtained inspiration from an imperial dancer named Yao Niang who the emperor ordered to bind her feet while dancing for him. The custom would later find its way to other parts of China and later enforced as a mandatory practice for all young girls upon reaching the age of three.

This process was painful for the young girls. Most of them found it difficult to dance and even walk normally. A small foot in ancient China was viewed under the same spectra of a tiny waist in the Victorian England. It was perceived as a height of the female gender’s refinement. The practice extended to the marriage sphere where it was used as a determinant of the marriageability of daughters. In this respect, the value of a bride was measured in terms of her feet size.

According to Amanda (2015), a bride who possessed a three-inch foot was deemed the most sought-after and thus referred as a ‘golden lotus’. If a woman had four-inch feet, she was also deemed reputable and thus labeled a ‘silver lotus’. However, if she had five inches or longer, she was dismissed under terms such as ‘iron lotus’ (Amanda, 2015).

To begin this process, the girls’ feet were plunged into a pool of hot water where their nails were clipped short. This process was followed by massaging of the feet with oil before breaking all the toes except for the big toe. The toes were then bound flat against the sole to create a triangular shape.

Subsequently, the girl’s arch was strongly restrained to bend her foot. Finally, the toes were bound in place using a strip of silk that measured about ten feet in length and almost two inches thickness. The wrappings were then briefly removed for two days to prevent any infection of the foot from taking place due to the accumulation of blood and secretions.

The girls would then be forced to walk for long distances to hasten the process of breakage of the arches. As time progressed, the wrappings were made even tighter and the shoes much smaller so that the heel and the sole could crash together. After a period of two years, the process would be complete where a deep cleft between the sole and heel was left (Amanda, 2015).

Foot Binding as a Violation of Women’s Rights

According to Appiah (2010), the practice was featured with suffering and debilitation of its victims. After the gruesome and painful years of exposure to the painful process, most of the victims were left with walking difficulties. Even more troubling was that innocent young children, as young as three years old, were caused to suffer excruciating pain. In this context, the victims were subjected to a poor quality of life labeled with deformity and disability (Appiah, 2010).

The respectability of a woman was judged depending on the size of her feet. More surprisingly, the feet were used as a criterion for determining the marriageability of a woman. For instance, a woman with three-inch feet was considered to the most desirable while a woman with feet larger than five feet was denied respect and consequently subjected to discrimination by her fellow women. In fact, it is in this basis that most women held onto the custom for thousands of years (Lu, 2012).

A study by Cummings et al. (1997) revealed deformities among a sizable number of elderly women in Beijing because of foot binding. The deformities resulted in the women being prone to falling.

They struggled when rising from a chair. Moreover, the women had trouble in squatting, an essential ability they needed for toileting. Other deformities included a lower hip, neck, and femoral bone density that exposed them to the risk of fractures. Therefore, foot binding not only caused deformities in the victims but also resulted in severe lifelong disabilities, particularly in their elderly life.

This form of practice was initiated at an early age when the child was innocent. Thus, the victims had no right in deciding whether they wanted their feet bound. According to Hong (2013), this practice is evidence of the hegemonic control that men had over women’s bodies. In the better part of imperial dynasty ruling, the practice encouraged the perception of women’s bodies as a vessel for oppression, control, and exploitation.

For instance, most women who had undergone this practice could not walk for long distances. As a result, they were completely reliant on their husbands. Therefore, through the practice, women could not voice their oppression since this move would cause their husbands to abandon them. Nevertheless, women underwent this practice to impress men and become marriageable, again indicating lack of control and independence over their bodies.

What China has done in terms of guaranteeing Women’s Rights in the Past Century

In the late nineteenth century, the practice of foot binding began to gain recognition as a violation of women’s rights and thus a concern to the people of China. The practice began to get a negative connotation as a brutal, inhumane, and cruel act to those who had fallen victims. Consequently, it was labeled a violation of the rights of women (Geng, 2015).

With a determination to release the women from the sufferings and consequences endured because of foot binding, anti-foot binding groups were formed as a campaign against the customary practice. The first campaign groups in contemporary China were initially set up and run by foreigners such as the London Missionary Society who were involved in spreading the word in Shantou after successfully setting up an anti-foot binding society.

The group consisted of members who did not wish foot binding to be performed on their daughters. To become an active member of the society, people were required to sign a pledge with their affixed name in presence of their relatives as testimonials.

In April 1897, an English woman, namely, Archibald, sponsored an establishment in the city of Shanghai whose task was to dissuade the heinous practice of foot binding and encourage more locals to join in the fight against the practice. By the early part of the twentieth century, the anti-foot binding campaigns were being led by local Chinese leaders such as Suzhou, Zhenjian, and Wuxi.

The campaign would later spread other parts of China such as Sichuan and Guangdong as more people joined. Common for all the campaigns was the requirement that their members were never to bind their daughters and that their men would not be allowed to marry daughters who had their feet bound.

To be approved for marriage, young women less than eight years old were required to have their feet unbound. If more than eight years, they would be required to register with the society before being allowed to marry youthful men of members of the society. Soon enough, the societies had established branches in every provincial capital, province, and municipality with greater influence on the southern parts of China (Geng, 2015).

Role of the Chinese Government

After the Boxer Rebellion, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were forced to show remorse over the issue of foot binding after pressure from the reformists. In the first months of 1902, an imperial edict that advised against the practice was issued. This announcement had a great influence in spearheading the anti-foot binding campaign because of the influence that was prompted by an imperial order.

Because of the increased awareness on the negative effects of foot binding on women’s overall health and quality of life, local governments in eighteen of China’s provinces promulgated stringent directives that banned the practice (Tao, Zheng, & Mow, 2004).

After the fall of the socialist Qing Dynasty in 1911, the Nationalist Revolution directed a ban on the practice of foot binding and even carried out regular inspections that resulted in fines against resistant parents who still practiced the banned custom. This move influenced a loss of the cultural prestige that was associated with the practice and consequently its demise (Rejali, 2014). A year after the Communist Party rose to power in 1949, the members too promulgated a ban against foot binding (Lim, 2007).

Conclusion

Foot binding was a customary practice whose roots can be traced back in the Sung Dynasty. Supposedly, the culture sought to emulate an imperial dancer for the emperor who was required to bind her feet to dance, a routine that the emperor found adorable and seductive. Soon enough, the practice would spread all across China to a point where it was mandatory for all girls to undergo the practice after reaching the age of three.

The practice of foot binding can be regarded as a violation against the rights of women. It caused pain and suffering to its victims, denying the women the right to quality of life, the right to making their choices, the right to independence, and the right to good health. The practice left most women deformed, disabled, and hence unable to walk for long distances. In the later part of the 19^th century, foreigners through anti-foot societies began to spread awareness of the detrimental effects of the practice.

They would later be joined by the local Chinese people. The movements also influenced the prevailing governments, including the Qing Dynasty, to issue bans on continued practice of the act. Over the middle part of the 20^th century, the Chinese government efforts to discourage the practice influenced the demise of the custom after it had lost its prestige.

Reference List

Amanda, F. (2015).Bound by Tradition. History Journal, 45(10), 22-28.

Appiah, K. (2010). The Art of Social Change: Campaigns against foot-binding and genital mutilation. Web.

Cummings, S., Ling, X., & Stone, K. (1997). Consequences of Foot Binding among Older Women in Beijing.American Journal Of Public Health, 87(10), 1677-1679.

Hong, F. (2013). Footbinding Feminism and Freedom. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis.

Geng, Y. (2015). An Introductory Study on China’s Cultural Transformation in Recent Times. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Lim, L. (2007). Painful Memories for China’s Footbinding Survivors. NPR.org. Web.

Lu, Y. (2012). Women and Human Rights: What I Learned from Foot Binding. Web.

Rejali, S. (2014). From Tradition to Modernity: Footbinding and Its End (1839-1911) – the History of the Anti-Footbinding Movement and the Histories of Bound-feet Women in China. The Journal Of Historical Studies, 3(1), 2-8.

Tao, J., Zheng, B., & Mow, S. (2004). Holding up half the sky. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York.

Wilson, A. (2013). How the methods used to eliminate foot binding in China can be employed to eradicate female genital mutilation. Journal Of Gender Studies, 22(1), 17-37.