The art of foot binding has been a custom practiced on young females for over 1,000 years in China. This unusual custom was an extremely painful attempt to stop the growth of feet. It began as a luxury for the rich, then became a prerequisite for marriage, and finally turned into a symbol of chastity. To this day, we don’t know the true reason this custom was formed, but it is mind boggling altogether that it lasted as long as it did.
The horrendous process of foot binding began around the ages of four to six. The young girls’ feet were first soaked in herbs and her toe nails were cut short. Second, a strip of bandage measuring ten inches long and two inches wide was wrapped tightly around her foot. Then, as painful as it sounds, the four smaller toes were broken and bound under the sole of the foot. This made the foot shorter, as well as the arch of the foot more bowed. Everyday the bandage was made tighter, and the shoe sizes got smaller. Finally after two years, the foot would have healed deformed, resulting in a tiny 4-6 inch long foot.
This custom, as you can imagine, caused a lot of different physical problems. To begin with, the pain was so immense that the girls would sometimes hide or try to run away from home. Also, the deformity of the broken feet caused many back, posture and spine complications. This sadly, sometimes led to being handicapped or disabled. Another problem had to do with little or no circulation in the feet and lower legs. This caused infection, horrific odor, painful blisters/sores and most of the time calluses that had to be cut off with knives. In addition, nerve damage was also very common among foot binding victims. 
In conclusion, this two year process of insanity was highly valued at this time, but was it worth it for the girls? Many people saw this tradition as a privilege, which made the girls seem “prized”. The nickname for a foot-bound girl was, “a three inch golden lotus.” Tell me, would you go through all that pain just to be considered a prize?
