Early China & Modern West

The 1958 popular film, "The Inn of Sixth Happiness", starring Ingrid Bergman, deals with the practice of foot binding of young Chinese girls, as tiny feet were reckoned a part of female beauty. Though the government tried to stop this abhorrent practice & appointed "foot inspectors", popular opinion was against them & they were thrashed by the local populace. Then Ingrid Bergman, who wanted to be a missionary & was rejected, got the post of "foot inspector." Because of her gender & gentle ways, she succeeded.

Though it was eradicated in China, a modern form persists in the West in the form of high-heeled shoes for fashionable ladies. Though uncomfortable & even dangerous in the long run, women persist in wearing them for the sake of fashion. In fact it is believed that only a misogynistic, sadistic man could have invented them!

In this connection, the tight corsetting of women in the Victorian era also led to many health problems, including fractured ribcages. In the film "Gone With The Wind", a young lady is shown leaning against a tree, while she is being tightly corsetted!