118 Dieting
the lotus has special seductive characteristics and is an instrument for
arousing desire. Who cannot resist the fascination and bewilderment of
playing with and holding in his palms a soft and jade-like hook? (cited in
Daly, 1978, p. 138)The lotus hooks also symbolized obedience and ensured that the wife would
be incapable of running away. The stumps prevented women from leading
any independent life of their own and represented total helplessness and
reliance on men. One of the most interesting elements of foot-binding is
that it was a tradition for women, executed by women. However, even though
women were the mutilators, the goal of male acceptability was an essential
element of economic security and social status. The women were prepared
to suffer and to pass this suffering on through their family as a sign that
they understood and respected male ideas of beauty, and out of fear of being
unmarriageable. One man described his sister’s ordeal as a child: “Auntie
dragged her hobbling along, to keep the blood circulating. Sister wept
throughout but mother and auntie didn’t pity her in the slightest saying
that if one loved a daughter one could not love her feet” (cited in Daly,
1978, p. 137).
CorsetsThe corset has played a major role in the world of female fashions.
Although an apparently familiar and harmless article, it has possibly been
responsible for more fainting fits, more crushed ribs, and more wasting
muscles than any other form of bodily control. The “need” for corsets was
derived from the idea that women were insufficiently strong to support their
own weight. It was believed that the female waist and spine were too weak
to support the breasts and stomach. Of course the corset had many other uses,
as it created an upright, “regal” appearance, and emphasized the feminine
smaller waist. As fashions changed, the corset provided a basis to enlarge
or flatten the stomach and to round or flatten the bottom. Women wearing
corsets were incapable of bending and so needed to be waited on; constantly
breathless, they required a male arm to steady them. In fact, the corset played
a central part in creating the very weakness for which it was designed to
compensate. As described by Greer (1970), “Nineteenth-century belles even
went to the extremity of having their lowest ribs removed so that they could
lace their corsets tighter” ( p. 35). Molding the body to create the ideal form
suggested an acceptance of women’s role in society and an understanding