Footbinding

I am in the middle of reading a book called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan a book about the Chinese tradition of Foot Binding. It is the story of one particular young girl who goes through this process. It is a horrible tradition where the feet of young women are bound in hoped to keep them small. The idea of small feet is seen as erotic to men. It is an extremely painful experience. The bones of their feet are broken and curve over to where eventually they are actually walking on their toes. Some cultures still practice it to this day. Some women even die from this ritual caused by an infection from not keeping up with the bandages. I can’t imagine going through something as excruciating and horrific as that.

-Katherine Schmidt