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The Culture of Footbinding

Oprah's Book Club  |  January 01, 2006
Footbinding

On the outside, these little feet were beautifully adorned in dainty embroidered slippers. But underneath the bindings were broken bones and rotting flesh. This crippling process began when girls were as young as three years old, their feet tightly wrapped in layers of bandages and their toes pushed back and broken under their soles.

Photo courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum
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