Essay on the binding of feet

Submitted By nada_alaraj
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Pages: 3
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Did you ever think about how morbid and unbelievably painful it would be to live the rest of your life if your own precious feet were bound? Chinese girls found themselves going through this life transforming process. In China, the objective of binding feet was to keep a girl’s feet very tiny and small. The process of binding feet in China was very cruel and extremely excruciating, but as times have progressed so have customs leading to the banning of this old world custom.
People bound their feet for the purpose of preventing foot growth. Another purpose would be to prove that they were wealthy or as a symbol of high class. In those years people in China whom were wealthy were respected and honored more. In with this honor people of prestigious order were respected as royalty. There are many specific reasons to bound people’s feet. One would be to get married. If a person had bound feet getting married was no problem, but if one didn’t they wouldn’t have a good future. (Renee 4). It also made women feel more beautiful about themselves. It was worth doing in the end for some people, for others it was a mistake. It was a mistake because they had to go through serious medical problems. (Susan 2).
The reason why people bound their feet wasn’t as absurd as the process of bounding feet. The process of binding feet involves the wrapping of feet. It would be wrapped by a cloth- like bandage that was 10 feet long. This process was excruciating and painful. The feet would be washed once every two weeks. (Renee 4). Twisting, binding, squeezing, and cramping the toes was also involved in the process. (Jane 1). The main part of the process is the squeezing. They would squeeze the foot to stop the flow of the blood circulation. If they didn’t stop the flow of the blood circulation, then the foot would not stay its tiny size. Also if they didn’t make sure that the squeezing had enough force, then the foot would still grow. Another thing one has to make sure is that all the bodily fluids in your feet get squeezed out. If these foot fluids don’t come, then the foot will be swollen, leading the girl to not being able to walk. In today’s society the binding of feet is banned or illegal. The year 1912 officially banned this practice. One reason why they made the bounding of feet illegal was because it caused many medical issues. These medical issues would last for life. It took three decades to end such an ingrained custom. People are still into the custom and
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