session 2 Reading

[Alejandra Jimenez]

Ridding China of Bad Customs

 

One of the most critizied Chinese customs has been the foot binding that was practiced from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasty ruling. As noted by Patricia E. Buckly in her book Chinese Civilezation: A Sourcebook. “Footbinding began to spread with the Song’s dynasty and was widely practiced throughout the Ming and Qing. Girls of five to eight would have their feet tightly bound until the four toes were turned under the heel and archcompressed…it was not until 1895 that the first anti-footbinding society was established in Shanghai. Soon similar societies were established in other cities” One of the early pioneer women activists in China was Qiu Jin (1875-1907) who helped overthrow the Manchu through her women’s liberation. This was a giant step for women to advocate for women rights where politics were male dominated.

There was a high interest among people in social reform that continued through the 1920s and 1930s by publishing a Woman’s Magazine that was ran by a male by “tries to convince his women readers that indenturing young girls as maids is wrong and that they should find ways to end the practice, a practice Westerners regularly likened to slavery”

 

There were important changed that took place during this period based on the anti-footbinding and regulations on marriage by outlining ten key points on these topics, such as 1. The purpose of organizing, 2. Every member is entitled to make selections, 3. In selecting mates for their children check for compatibility, 4. Arranged marriagages could be arranged between families from other provinces, 5. A matchmaker may be engaged to arrange the marriage contract, 6. Bride’s dowry should not impact of the future wife’s treatment, 7. Rituals were still accepted as aform of marriage, 8. Bride’s clothing should conform to customary accepted style, 9. Worthy daughters and parents should promote education, 10. Rules were written in simple terms so all parties involved could understand them.

[Cristina Hernandez]

Every time I see an article that mentions foot binding it gets me thinking about our contemporary "foot torture." Nowadays it is so easy to criticize the old custom of foot binding, but we are not acknowledging the fact that we are still torturing our female population by encouraging the use of high heels.  I have hear the comment that high heels are more elegant and professional looking for women.  I tend to disagree with that statement.  Personally, I am unable to wear high heels due to medical conditions and many times I feel like I am not "elegant" enough because i do not wear high heels.  High heels are a way of binding our feet because those shoes do not comply with the natural shape of our feet.  Furthermore, our society celebrates the use of those shoes by women and it seems like it is necessary to wear those shoes in order to succeed in society.  Finally, I question the idea of what is really barbaric or chic.

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