Chinese Club Feet

[wombat2u2004]

Check these pics out gang.
This mutilation was done to Chinese girls when they were very young, so that they would be more appealing to their men when they reached courting age.
Wom

[wombat2u2004]

A couple more.

[Miss Z]

Nasty. I heard about that type of thing happening, apparently tiny feet are considered proper and attractive in China. I feel sorry for that woman, she must have a hard time walking.

[wombat2u2004]

Nasty. I heard about that type of thing happening, apparently tiny feet are considered proper and attractive in China. I feel sorry for that woman, she must have a hard time walking.

Yep....pretty terrible stuff, they used to break the bones in their feet when they were just toddlers, no anaesthetic or anything used to alleviate the pain, and then bind the feet tightly in cloth strips to eventually make the feet clubbed.
Those poor women just hobbled about for their entire lives....and for no other reason than to look sexy for their man.
Pathetic sort of a practice....eh ???
Wom

[Catty1]

....also keeps a woman from running under her own power....

[lizbud]

That is grotesque.

[gini]

Seems like I am finding lots of things supposed "humans" do to animals and people on this board this morning.

Where do these customs come from?

[cyber-sibes]

Weren't they called "lotus feet"? I've never seen photos of the feet before, looks incredibly painful. I can't imagine deforming a child's beautiful little feet in that way. My gosh, they don't even look like feet. Must have been thought up by some man with major control issues.
(no offense to men in general)

[Giselle]

THAT'S what it looks like? Oh wow! I've read countless accounts of bound feet, but that image far surpasses my interpretation of them Truly grotesque and ridiculous.

[Twisterdog]

While indeed a horrific practice, it is no longer done. It has not been done for a long time. It was formally outlawed in 1911. The only surviving victims of foot-binding are now very old women.

Here are a couple of interesting sites, if you want some more information on the practice. I have trouble even reading or looking at pictures. It makes me feel a little ill.

Foot Binding

Foot Binding

[RICHARD]

Where are the pictures of the clubs?

I was expecting something like the seal thread,

[wombat2u2004]

Where are the pictures of the clubs?

I was expecting something like the seal thread,

It's their FEET Richard.......they beat the seals to death with their FEET....sheesh.....
Wom

[cyber-sibes]

This thread is so bizarre, it got me looking up more information. For a thousand years women suffered this indignation, & some people suspect it is still practiced in remote parts of China.

Thought this was interesting:

"The earliest versions of the story of Cinderella come from Sung Dynasty China. In these versions, the point of the story is that the Prince loves Cinderella because she has the smallest feet of any girl in the kingdom, so the slipper will only fit her."

That certainly puts a new spin on an old story.

[lady_zana]

This thread is so bizarre, it got me looking up more information. For a thousand years women suffered this indignation, & some people suspect it is still practiced in remote parts of China.

Thought this was interesting:

"The earliest versions of the story of Cinderella come from Sung Dynasty China. In these versions, the point of the story is that the Prince loves Cinderella because she has the smallest feet of any girl in the kingdom, so the slipper will only fit her."

That certainly puts a new spin on an old story.

Most of those old Faerie tales are nothing like the tales we know! Snow White was raped and had twins in the original....eep!

Back on topic though, check out Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. It's a young adult novel - a retelling of Cinderella where the heroine is the lesser loved sister who's feet were not bound and she has to care for her older stepsisters and their tiny, bound feet. It's a good read and being for young adults, it doesn't take very long to finish.

[RICHARD]

Most of those old Faerie tales are nothing like the tales we know! Snow White was raped and had twins in the original....eep!

So that's where we get "off white" or "beige"?

I kinda fancy the old Grimm Brothers fairy tales.


I particularly hated the one about the dancing shoes- The girl finds some magic shoes, puts them on and dances her way out of town. The sucky part about it is that she can't take them off. She dances her way into the woods where she is saved by a woodsman who chops her legs off and makes her some prosthetic gams.

THAT is where I had a problem-HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

I got new shoes
I can dance!
I can't stop dancing.
It's so bad that I get my legs amputated.
I get new ones......

Yikes!