Why I love this pair of battered biker boots

I’ve been blogging a lot about high heels recently and in particular, my efforts to recreate a swaying, high heeled walk for a scene in Bound Feet Blues.

To give you a contrast – and especially to show you who I am now, here is a photo of the kind of footwear that I stride around in these days.

This is the pair of biker boots that I wear most often in my daily life. They are now a bit beaten up and grungy looking. But I love them because they are the most comfortable pair of boots I have at the moment.

I love the way that they make me feel a bit tough, especially with the two strapped buckles on the side. If you know me, you know that I’m really a softy and not much of a hard-ass biker chick at all – but it gives me a kick (ha ha) to stomp around in these boots that make me feel as if I could win any bar brawl…

For me, the shoes or boots that I wear can really affect Continue reading

My story performance Bound Feet Blues is a way in to talking about contemporary feminist issues

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

Why I love running in the rain [Bound Feet Blues]

Researching the crippling effect of bound feet on women in ancient China for my story performance Bound Feet Blues has made me appreciate the freedom I have as a modern woman have to enjoy the simple pleasure of going for a run

I went for a 3 mile run on Easter Sunday in the pouring rain and came back utterly drenched. You may not believe me but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Why such seeming madness?

Of course I’d prefer to run through a sunny landscape, with the warm sunshine on my face and the vibrant colours of spring bursting around me. But there’s something tactile and Continue reading

Bound Feet Blues: Inside the mind of a woman crippled by bound feet in ancient China

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