bound feet

An old lady with bound feet (chanzu) in a Peking Hutong (alley). 1975. The tiny narrow feet were considered beautiful and to make a woman's movements more feminine and dainty. Although reformers challenged the practice, it was not until the early 20th century that footbinding began dying out, partly from changing social conditions and partly as a result of anti-footbinding campaigns. Foot-binding resulted in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects. In the 1970's some elderly Chinese women still survived with disabilities related to their bound feet.