A Tiny Step Backward?

       I was curious to learn why my shapeup shoes might be similar to the shape of shoes worn by geishas. Thanks to Wikipedia and the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, perhaps I have found the reason -- and it brings up some unpleasant associations.

       Foot binding was a practice in China for close to 1,000 years, outlawed only in the 20th century. In this practice, the feet of Chinese women were tightly bound with bandages until the arch of the foot was broken and the foot was permanently deformed -- bent over itself until the entire foot, from toe to heel, measured only around 3 inches. (The photo at left shows natural feet next to bound feet.) This practice caused immense suffering, but the resulting tiny feet were considered things of beauty and were thought of as being shaped like the lotus flower. 

       Originally practiced only by the elite, it later expanded to include all Han Chinese women. Women with bound feet wore tiny beautiful slippers to adorn them, and walking on the feet required a swaying, tiny-stepped walk. This manner of walking became known as the lotus gait, and apparently, was considered exciting to men.  Indeed, it is said that the lotus gait resulted in a tightening of the pelvic muscles so that sex with a woman who walked with the lotus gain was said to be like "making love to a virgin".

       Manchu women, however, were forbidden to bind their feet.  But because these women wanted to emulate the enticing lotus gait, high-platformed shoes with a small central pedestal were developed for them (see photo to the right). These shoes caused Manchu women wearing them to walk with a form of the lotus gait.  Presumably the same is true of the shoes worn by modern-day apprentice geishas.

       And it seems that shapeup shoes might be based on the same theory -- that walking on them leads to a lotus gait type of walk which -- to quote the shapeup shoes advertisement -- may create "healthy and toned lower extremities".

       With Valentine's Day arriving tomorrow, it is troubling to think of the things done to women in the quest for "beauty" or sexuality.  And, of course, another effect of bound feet was to limit the mobility of women and leave them dependent on, and devoted to, their family, and their husband in particular.

       I was trying my modern-day shapeup shoes to give me a fitness advantage, and I may continue using them for that purpose. I can't help thinking, however, that they are symbolic of a tiny, swaying step backward to a troubling practice and a troubling time.