Bound Feet, Young Hands - Tracking the Demise of Footbinding in Village China (Hardcover)

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.

General

Imprint:	Stanford University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	2017
First published:	2017
Authors:	Laurel Bossen • Hill Gates
Dimensions:	235 x 155 x 23mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth / Cloth
Pages:	264
ISBN-13:	978-0-8047-9955-3
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Gender studies > Women's studies > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Customs & folklore > Customs Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > Social & cultural anthropology > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history
LSN:	0-8047-9955-5
Barcode:	9780804799553

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