began of footbinding chinese

footbinding as a cultural phenomenon has passed into historical annals.there is such a thing as historical and cultural relavitivism.
the chinese traditon of binding the feet of women lasted for 1.000 years from the early 10th century until was outlawed in 1912. this custom of binding a young girls feet, some as young as five years old, was adhered to by many chinese and smallness of feet became a source of pride for the woman and she considered unmarriageable without them. there are many theories proposed for why such a painful and crippling practice lasted so long. the first is the theory that footbinding was a way to subjugate women and keep them at home. this hobbling was meant to make ambulation difficult for the women making her less likely to run around and commit adultery. the socond theory is that footbinding wa simply a fashion statement and a source of admiration for the beaty of the small bound foot.

chinese thought that the smaller the woman's foot, the more wondrous become in folds of the vagina. therefore marriages in ta-tung often take place earlier than elsewhre. women in other districts can produce these folds artificially, but only way is by footbinding, which concentrates develop layer after layer(of folds within vagina). those who have personally experienced this(in sexual intercource) feel a supernatural exaltation. so the system of foot binding was not really oopressive.