Bound feet — the cruel Chinese practice of reducing a normal foot to 10cm (3 in.) stubs — were once part of a stereotypical East Asian allure.
The results of the practice, in which the toes of girls as young as four were broken and bound to the sole of the foot with cloth, was widely believed to have had an erotic appeal.
"Women's small feet came to be considered as the most intimate part of her body, the very symbol of femininity, and the most powerful centre of sex appeal," writes Robert van Gulik, a scholar of East Asia, who authored a study on the sexual life of the ancient Chinese in 1961. Read more...
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