Foot-binding And Corsetry:Visions Of Women In The East And West Through Body Limitation

The research of this thesis is based on foot-binding and corsetry,and compares them through the lenses of history,ways of thinking,religion,culture,esthetics,in order to show the differences and similarities of the vision of women in the East and West.The fact that foot-binding and corsetry are very representative female body limitations also helps to show how they evolved and what are their continuity in the present.Past researches on comparison of foot-binding and corsetry are rather simple or only concentrate on some aspects of the subject.This thesis begins with the history of foot-binding,examines its flourishment and its extinction,then considers the vision of women in Chinese ancient society through the history of foot-binding,and its connection with Chinese traditional way of thinking,culture,esthetics,etc.Furthermore,I compared the history of both foot-binding and corsetry as representations of female bodily limitation to show the differences and similarities of the vision of woman in China and the West.Finally,this thesis incorporates a study made on young Chinese and Western people which considers how they see foot-binding and corsetry,high heels,diets and plastic surgery,as well as their thoughts on beauty,in order to compare the present vision of women among young people in China and the West.We can see from the comparison of foot-binding and corsetry,as well as from the result of this paper's study that,the appearance of women is crucial for how they are seen by society,but difference between China and the West is that Westerners tend to give importance to women's sexual appearance.On the other hand,Chinese vision of women,both traditional and modern,insists on the "yin" part of a woman's personality,but is also moving towards a more independent woman.This is why this thesis argues that,from the study of foot-binding and corsetry,as well as their legacies in the present,Chinese vision of women nowadays is a little more advanced than its counterpart in the West.