Bound Feet, Young Hands

Tracking the Demise of Footbinding in Village China

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book Bound Feet, Young Hands by Laurel Bossen, Hill Gates, Stanford University Press
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Author: Laurel Bossen, Hill Gates ISBN: 9781503601079
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: January 25, 2017
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Laurel Bossen, Hill Gates
ISBN: 9781503601079
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: January 25, 2017
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

Footbinding was common in China until the early twentieth century, when most Chinese were family farmers. Why did these families bind young girls' feet? And why did footbinding stop? In this groundbreaking work, Laurel Bossen and Hill Gates upend the popular view of footbinding as a status, or even sexual, symbol by showing that it was an undeniably effective way to get even very young girls to sit still and work with their hands.

Interviews with 1,800 elderly women, many with bound feet, reveal the reality of girls' hand labor across the North China Plain, Northwest China, and Southwest China. As binding reshaped their feet, mothers disciplined girls to spin, weave, and do other handwork because many village families depended on selling such goods. When factories eliminated the economic value of handwork, footbinding died out. As the last generation of footbound women passes away, Bound Feet, Young Hands presents a data-driven examination of the social and economic aspects of this misunderstood custom.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Footbinding was common in China until the early twentieth century, when most Chinese were family farmers. Why did these families bind young girls' feet? And why did footbinding stop? In this groundbreaking work, Laurel Bossen and Hill Gates upend the popular view of footbinding as a status, or even sexual, symbol by showing that it was an undeniably effective way to get even very young girls to sit still and work with their hands.

Interviews with 1,800 elderly women, many with bound feet, reveal the reality of girls' hand labor across the North China Plain, Northwest China, and Southwest China. As binding reshaped their feet, mothers disciplined girls to spin, weave, and do other handwork because many village families depended on selling such goods. When factories eliminated the economic value of handwork, footbinding died out. As the last generation of footbound women passes away, Bound Feet, Young Hands presents a data-driven examination of the social and economic aspects of this misunderstood custom.

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