Читать книгу Introducing Anthropology - Laura Pountney - Страница 111

The foot-binding of girls was practised only in China and became popular in the twelfth century among the elite. Its purpose was to restrict the growth of the foot as a sign of beauty, wealth and discipline. A woman with bound feet could not walk properly. She was also considered attractive as a marriage partner because her physical impairment indicated she was honourable and a virgin. Foot-binding began at 3–6 years of age, when all the girl’s toes, apart from the big toe, were folded down under the sole of the foot and bandaged tightly in that position. The bones of the toes broke and the instep was artificially curved and raised in an attempt to create the ‘lotus foot’, the perfect arch of the foot. Women with these modifications would need constant support to stand, and walking was extremely painful and problematic in terms of balance. Men found women with bound feet very attractive. Foot-binding was officially banned in China in 1911.