"Foot Binding" Research Paper

I’m learning more about foot binding right now, and in particular what I’m wondering what I’m about is why foot binding was used in countries? Why did Chinese people think that smaller feet we’re attractive? I was researching this question online, and this news item caught my attention because it tells the story of one girl who actually went through the the pain of having her foot bound and wrapped up each day.

One thing that I know for sure about foot binding is that is that id was a technique used in the past by the Chinese people. Now I've studied my share of History, and this was the most bizarre tradition and its something I honestly don't understand. Personally, it's funny to me how perfection in everybody eyes are different , and how people always want to look a certain way,but in reality, its an impossible goal to accomplish.

Being that I didn't have a lot of background information on foot binding, I chose to do some research on the topic. As I searched for blogs and news articles on Google, I came across this one article:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942
This quote caught my attention, and I thought to share it with you:

“Wang Lifen was just 7 years old when her mother started binding her feet: breaking her toes and binding them underneath the sole of the foot with bandages. After her mother died, Wang carried on, breaking the arch of her own foot to force her toes and heel ever closer. Now 79, Wang no longer remembers the pain.”
<Citation:Louisa Lim.March 19, 2007.Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors.>

In another article, “CHINESE FOOT BINDING” <http://www.angelfire.com/ca/beekeeper/foot.html > there was this one statement that made me nod my head in agreement with the writer. It was: “In conclusion, we do not know exactly how the custom of foot binding began. We do know that it is remarkable that it began at all and that it lasted as long as it did, about one thousand years. The fact that this custom began is curious but even more curious is the fact that it permeated so deeply into all social and economic classes of Chinese society. The effect that foot binding had on women is plain to see.” This is so true, because what I've been learning from foot binding is that is causes more then physical pain for women, but emotional pain. They feel that their not perfect, and obligated to go through the pain to make their family happy.

All of this makes me think that that foot binding is just terrible. I feel sorry for the girls who had to go through this just because people thought smaller feet were cuter and more attractive.