For centuries in China, it was common for young girls to have their feet bound, with their toes pulled under the base of the foot. This binding would deform the girls' feet, resulting in feet so petite that they were hardly larger than a child's. The other result of foot-binding made women hardly able, or completely unable, to walk.
Although foot-binding was banned in 1912, the long-held practice lingered in many areas. When the Communists came to power in China in 1949, foot-binding finally ended. The history of this practice is fascinating. Were girls' feet bound purely for erotic reasons? If it prevented women from working, why would peasants also bind their children's feet? For more information on "Lotus Flower" feet and the few remaining survivors of the practice, see this interesting article in The Wall Street Journal.
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