By Bethany Reyna
Body image for women throughout history has been and unfortunately will probably always be something that is an issue. Many women today think that the key to a good self-image is being thin and beautiful. Women from different time periods and cultures often define beauty as something different-for example foot binding was a part of some Chinese cultures and was a way women felt beautiful.
Until about the 1950s foot binding was not completely banned in all parts of China. Millions of women were forced to bind their feet until the years following the Communist revolution in 1949. Many women today still have deformed feet from having their feet bound. Some women choose to take off their bindings, even though the feet were still deformed. Other women choose to leave their bindings on because that is the way they have had it almost their entire lives.
The process of foot biding was not originally started to disable women and deform their feet. Before this tradition began, women were highly educated, could be independently wealthy and could divorce and remarry if they wanted. Foot binding started with loosely bound feet as a kind of fad among the upper classes. As time went on, women started binding their feet tighter, and eventually it was no longer a fad, but a necessity. Without having bound feet it was almost impossible for women to have any suitors therefore impossible for women to live normal lives or get married.
In the article I read the author compared the foot binding to other ways that women in history (and now) try to change their bodies to get men to seek them out. While foot binding was almost required by all women and risked almost half of China’s population health, some of the diet fads today can be extremely dangerous. Many women today feel pressured to fit into a certain image that is, most of the time, unattainable while still living a healthy, normal life.
Many women throughout history feel pressured to fit into a certain image according to their culture and time period. Women should not have to have physical standards to live up to in any culture especially just for approval from their community. Hopefully someday, women can live without having to worry about how they look to other people and only worry about how they feel about themselves.