11. Chinese Foot Binding
While the ages have seen many harmful beauty practices from smearing arsenic and lead on the skin to achieve pale beauty to ingesting radium for radiance, few have been as painful as the ancient Chinese tradition of foot binding. The first archeological evidence of foot binding was from the corpse of Lady Huang Sheng, who died in 1243. The practice continued in China for almost a millennia and was strongly associated with wealth and nobility.
Starting in early childhood, a girl’s toes would be broken and wrapped under her feet. The goal was for feet no longer than three inches, what were called “golden lilies” by the Chinese. Young brides with feet longer than five inches would see lowered marriage prospects as the longer feet indicated low status and poverty. The process of binding took several years, with near-daily bandage changes required to heal the mangled feet.
There were attempts at various stages in Chinese history to ban the practice, but men were fervent defenders due to the sensuality attached to the method. Men believed that bound feet made for more satisfying romantic partners and appreciated the gait that women developed from having their feet bound. Christian missionaries helped to finally end the foot-binding practice at the beginning of the 20th century.