Tag Archives: footbinding

Feet, podiatry, Popdiatribe

Bound: Then and Now

Leave a comment

Hong Kong based documentary photographer Jo Farrell launched and landed a successful Kickstarter campaign to create a book showing some of the last remaining women in China with bound feet.

image: Jo Farrell
image: Jo Farrell

In the early 1900s, having bound feet was a mark of beauty and status for some women in China. Developing pre-teen girls would have their toes pressed and squeezed into the bottom of the foot until they broke. Their arches were also broken, then the feet were wrapped tightly with bandages, and cultivated by soaking and rewrapping tighter and tighter as they developed into women who would be considered good, subservient wives.

Zhao Hua Hong photographed by Jo Farrell in 2010
Zhao Hua Hong photographed by Jo Farrell in 2010

Check out more pictures on Jo Farrell’s site

Footbinding was phased out around 75 years ago, but are westernized women doing a milder version of it by wearing impractical decorative footwear that may lead to deformed toes and sore knees over time? What about the mainstreaming of so-called Cinderella procedures, where elective surgeries are done so women can better slide into “sexy” shoes?

A modern American women having a toe-shortening procedure at Evo Advanced Foot Surgery in Beverly Hills, CA. She can now wear "designer" shoes with less discomfort.
A modern American women having a toe-shortening procedure at Evo Advanced Foot Surgery in Beverly Hills, CA. She can now wear “designer” shoes with less discomfort.
Podiatrist Dr. Oliver Zang of NYC Footcare explains his concept of "designer feet for designer shoes"
Podiatrist Dr. Oliver Zang of NYC Footcare, the self-proclaimed originator of the foot facelift and toe-tuck, explains his concept of “designer feet for designer shoes”