Photographer Jo Farell is documenting the last women in China with bound feet. This timely and important project tells the stories of these last remaining women who suffered the brutal practice of footbinding through intimate and respectful black and white photos.
This video gives an overview of the project and also outlines some the history and reasons for this ancient Chinese social tradition.
She funded this project via Continue reading
In the Cinderella fairy tale, when the Prince finds the glass slipper dropped by Cinderella, he travels around the kingdom trying to find the woman whose foot is the perfect fit for the shoe. Many women long to marry the Prince, including Cinderella’s ugly sisters but their feet are too big – so they resort to chopping off their toes and their heels to make their feet fit into that single perfect glass slipper.
You think this is a fairy tale.
Well, think again.
It seems that women today are having foot surgery so that their feet fit more easily into high heel shoes or sandals, according to an article on Shape magazine on Cinderella Foot Surgery.
They are asking for toe shortenings… nail re-sizing, “foot facelifts,” “toe tucks,” and foot narrowing… [and] “toebesity” surgery [liposuction on fat toes]
Having spent so much time researching the brutal Continue reading
I workshopped Bound Feet Blues at The Centre for Solo Performance with 6 other solo performers and two facilitators. What was fascinating was that after my piece ended, in addition to giving me feedback on my performance and the structure of the script, the others in the group started talking about contemporary issues of body modification, body mutilation, the outward signifiers of feminity and masculinity and the eroticization of different part of our bodies in different cultures and times.
The facilitator had to interrupt the animated discussion to bring Continue reading
I have added a page to my blog giving the background to the development of Bound Feet Blues.
My vision for the piece is as a pure form of storytelling with no costumes or props and minimal lighting and music or sound effects. As a child, I loved listening to the stories my mother and Continue reading
This photo hangs on the wall in my study. It reminds me of my freedom to walk where I choose, to stride through my life, to stand on my own two feet
This is a fascinating article about Chinese photographer Ji Yeo and her project to photograph women in the recovery room just after cosmetic surgery – See http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/mar/18/ji-yeo-cosmetic-surgery-frontline
According to the Guardian, she hated her body when she was younger – which was tied into her low self esteem – and looked into having cosmetic surgery.
She didn’t have the surgery but started the Beauty Recovery Room photography project instead, taking photos of women just after cosmetic surgery.
As I’ve been thinking about bound feet and why women in China did that to themselves for my story performance Bound Feet Blues, I’ve been so much more aware of issues around women and their self esteem, body image, the role of fashion as power and body mutilation/ modification.
This project is particularly striking for me because it involves Chinese and East Asian women – symbolically making Continue reading
Ever since I’ve been working on my story project Bound Feet Blues, I’ve been drawn to news and other matters to do with women’s feet and shoes – especially anything that hobbles us, limits movements and involves pain.
I am excited to see a Guardian report on the rise of ugly – but comfortable – shoes.
The article quotes Natalie Kingham, head Continue reading
I’ve been researching the history of bound feet for my solo performance piece Bound Feet Blues.
According to Wikipedia
Bound feet became a mark of beauty and was also a prerequisite for finding a husband. It also became an avenue for poorer women to marry into money; for example, in Guangdong in the late 19th century, it was customary to bind the feet of the eldest daughter of a lower-class family who was intended to be brought up as a lady. Her younger sisters would grow up to be bond-servants or domestic slaves and, when old enough, either the concubines of rich men or the wives of laboring men, able to work in the fields alongside them. In contrast, the tiny, narrow feet of the “ladies” were considered beautiful and made a woman’s movements more feminine and dainty, and it was assumed these eldest daughters would never need to work. Women, their families, and their husbands took great pride in tiny feet, with the ideal length, called the “Golden Lotus”, being about 7 cm (3 inches) long.[7] This pride was reflected in the elegantly embroidered silk slippers and wrappings girls and women wore to cover their feet. Walking on bound feet necessitated bending the knees slightly and swaying to maintain proper movement and balance, a dainty walk that was also considered erotic to men.[8]
What was it like to be a woman crippled by bound feet? This question has always haunted me ever since I was a child when I learnt about the bound feet women in China.
I have been researching this question for my story performance Bound Feet Blues.
You can read my essay about the practice of footbinding and how it affected generations of women emotionally and pyschologically over at my main blog StoryGuru.co.uk: see “Bound Feet Blues: What was it like to be a woman crippled by bound feet in ancient China?”
“For a thousand years, women crippled their daughters to create perfect dainty little bound feet which were beloved by men and became the currency for a good marriage. What was it like to be one of those women? Why did they carry on such a cruel practice?
…. [READ MORE]”
Photo: flyer for Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes – from the author’s personal archive
Bound Feet Blues - A Life Told in Shoes 