Bent & bound to look more feminine, bent and bound to look less feminine, mangled in accordance with social trends. Women's bodies, never thin enough, never small enough, never flat enough, never curvy enough, never satisfactory, never not at the mercy of others. The impact is never properly studied. It won't be this time either.
'Despite foot-binding’s brutality, and hundreds of anthropological studies addressing it, the long-term medical consequences of the practice have been largely neglected. Examining the debilitating, lifelong physical effects that foot-binding had on Chinese girls can be crucial for understanding the lengths to which societies will go to restrict women’s freedom...
'Humans took millions of years to evolve into bipedal walkers, relying on several points of the foot shifting weight and balance as we take each step. Foot-binding reduced these points to only the big toe and heel bone; the arch was shoved up to make the foot shorter, and the other toes were bent under the ball. In many cases the arch was broken completely. Girls whose feet were bound would never again be able to walk fluidly, severely limiting their ability to move through the world.
'But women have been bent in more literal ways too. Foot-binding was one. Corsets were another; only rarely do we remember that Victorian women’s hourglass shape came at the expense of their lungs and rib cages. In Japan, most workplaces still require women to wear high heelss, even while they’re job hunting. In response to a petition for that requirement to be abolished, Japan’s minister of health and welfare defended it as “occupationally necessary,”” despite the strain that high heels put on backs, knees, and foot bones, as well as the risk of vertebral slippage.'
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/lasting-damage-foot-binding/606439/