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The Neglected Consequences of Foot-Binding

For several hundred years, millions of Chinese girls had their bodies painfully misshapen to conform to a prevailing social expectation. Intact feet, girls were told, would damage their marriage prospects. To achieve a more suitable size and shape, young girls’ feet were crushed repeatedly over years. Each excruciating procedure forced the girls to learn to walk anew, rereading the ground from an unfamiliar position and through unimaginable pain.

The tiny “lotus foot” in its delicate silken shoe was seen as one of the most attractive qualities in a prospective bride; the smaller the foot, the more sexually pleasing the girl was. More recent studies have shown that foot-binding was likely…

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 The Shocking History of Foot Binding and How It Still Exists Today

Foot binding is an ancient tradition that has been practiced for centuries, where women and girls have their feet bound and reshaped for aesthetic purposes. It is a painful and dangerous procedure that has been widely criticized, yet it still exists in some parts of the world in modern day.

Articles of Interest

New research into foot-binding has modern-day implications

Girls were bound to repetitive tasks like spinning yarn because of it.

Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors

Suffering for beauty is a concept familiar to most women, who have dyed, plucked or shaved their hair, squeezed their feet into uncomfortable high heels or even surgically enhanced parts of their anatomy. Millions of Chinese women went even further — binding their feet to turn them into the prized "three-inch golden lotuses."

The History of Foot Binding in China

For centuries, young girls in China were subjected to an extremely painful and debilitating procedure called foot binding. Their feet were bound tightly with cloth strips, with the toes bent down under the sole of the foot, and the foot tied front-to-back so that the grew into an exaggerated high curve. The ideal adult female foot would be only three to four inches in length. These tiny, deformed feet were known as "lotus feet."

The last women in China with bound feet: 'They thought it would give them a better life'

The photographer Jo Farrell tracked down 50 surviving women whose feet had been bound. Many could no longer walk, and kept their disfigurement hidden. Her images reveal the survivors’ strength, determination – and hope.

Uncovering the economics of foot-binding

Study suggests the cultural practice was driven by economics, not sex and beauty

Why Footbinding Persisted in China for a Millennium

Despite the pain, millions of Chinese women stood firm in their devotion to the tradition.