I just refreshed my memory on foot binding

[Marthe48]

Someone in an antique group I'm in posted a picture of small quilted shoes, wondering if they were for children. Some of the replies mentioned foot binding. When I was in grade school, my 6th grade teacher talked about this cultural practice. By that time, it was out of style, thank God. I think the discussion ended up ranging far afield, to people in African nations adding larger and larger disks to their lips, Native American groups putting boards around their babies skulls to elongate them, and other practices. I think overall, my teacher was very progressive and sought to open doors for us to other cultures. She would read to us for 15 minutes every day after lunch, and one of the books she chose was a fictionalized account of a school in the south being integrated. I don't remember the name of the book, but some of the scenes were unforgetable. She was an exceptional teacher.

As I refreshed my memory on foot binding, I remembered a novel I read about a Chinese family trying to survive the war with Japan. The mother had bound feet and suffered from pain, sores and infections. At any time, I have never understood why humans will mutilate their bodies, or allow their bodies to be mutilated. And sadly, it seems like women are more likely to suffer mutilation than men. As women descend back in a pit of fewer to no rights, I wonder how far women will be degraded this time around? And how do we say NO MORE in a way that the fascist conservatives understand that no mean no? Women are not objects. If we own nothing else, we own our bodies, and any practice or law that interferes with our bodily autonomy is wrong.