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Shocking result of binding girls feet, China, East Asia
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Shocking result of binding girls feet, China, East Asia
The shocking result of binding girls feet in China, East Asia, meaning that in adult life the woman cannot walk properly, but only hobble. Date: 1922
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Media ID 23085176
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Deformation Deformed Feet Foot Growth Mutilated Mutilation Today Toes 1922 Racial Stunted
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This striking photograph, taken in 1922, provides a poignant and disturbing glimpse into the past of foot binding in China, a painful and debilitating practice that was prevalent in East Asia during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The image shows two adult women, their feet bound and deformed, unable to walk properly and reduced to a hobble. Their toes are stunted and their feet are twisted into unnatural shapes, a result of the binding process that began in childhood and continued for years. Foot binding was a cultural tradition in China that began around the 10th century and was believed to enhance femininity and make the feet of women more attractive to men. The practice involved wrapping and binding the feet of young girls with tight bandages, often starting when they were just five or six years old. The binding process was painful and caused the bones in the feet to break and the toes to fold under, resulting in a small, delicate foot. The practice was widely condemned by the international community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and efforts were made to ban it. However, it persisted in some rural areas until the 1940s and 1950s. Today, foot binding is considered a form of mutilation and is universally condemned as a violation of human rights. This photograph serves as a reminder of the painful history of foot binding and the suffering it caused for countless women in China and beyond. The photograph is a powerful reminder of the racial and cultural types that were prevalent in the 1920s and the ways in which they shaped perceptions of women in different parts of the world. It also underscores the importance of recognizing and challenging harmful cultural practices, no matter how deeply ingrained they may be.
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