Chinese Foot Binding

Foot binding was a custom practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China, it resulted in lifelong disabilities for most of its victims. Chinese foot binding involved binding the feet of women in order to shrink them - such that they could fit into 3 inch shoes. The Chinese foot binding shoes were called lotus shoes. Having small feet that were shaped like moon crests, was considered to be the highest form of beauty in women in China. Women with bound feet could not walk and had to totter about. This restricted their movements and led them to be around the house. And thus Chinese foot binding became a symbol of chastity and eroticism.