I was sad / disappointed / angry to read that...

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During the Tang dynasty women had already made some progress. They finally got the freedom to participate in social life, something that did not happen in the past.

The book says “paintings and statues show aristocratic women riding horses, with the Queen Mother of the West, a Daoist deity”. Unfortunately later on, during the Song dynasty, the advance made by women was forgotten. During this dynasty women became submissive again. This problem occurred because of rapid economic growth and because some ideas of Confucianism were revived. In addition to being a weak sex, women were seen as a distraction to the male sex. Marrying again was a source of shame for a woman. It was frowned upon for a widowed woman to marry again.

One of the ideas that demonstrated the strength of patriarchy during that time was the foot binding. This trend was painful and terrible. Since women had to wrap their feet to the point of allowing their bones to break. Can you imagine how painful it was? 

This was a totally accepted idea. Especially by elite families, and then it spread throughout China. This tendency was associated with modern representations of female beauty and eroticism that emphasized small size, frailty, and deference, and helped to keep women confined to the "Inner quarters," where Confucian tradition claimed to belong (Strayer, p., 331). Finally, ​​foot binding came to be a form of distinction between women. For example, Chinese women from their "barbarian" counterparts or elite women from commoners and peasants. 


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