Concubines and Foot Binding
Consequences as a Concubine:
Not only were there physical consequences to being a concubine, but there were also mental consequences.
Concubine's were treated more as maids than as wives. Any children they gave birth to would have to treat the wife of the man they belonged to as their own mother, taking away all the concubine's rights and stripping them of any freedom. This could have detrimental consequences on the mental health of a concubine, being unable to love their child and call it their own, or be able to have any control over the choices being made for that child. These women were viewed as property, essentially a slave to their owner, without a voice or a say in any matters. Enduring this type of treatment and living such a degrading life could slowly kill their spirit. This can be shown in Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club in the chapter titled Magpie, when character An-Mei's mother commits suicide after being unable to endure the life of a concubine and the consequences that came with it. However, this is not the worst case scenario. In some cases, for example during the Chinese Ming dynasty, women were kidnapped from their homes and were forbidden to leave their prisons except when they were called to their emperors bed. Some of these women were even unable to walk because of their bound feet, leaving them defenseless. The founder of the Ming Dynasty, The Hongwu Emperor, kept concubines confined and subjected them to torture. He wanted to be able to control every aspect of their lives, and in order to continue to control them even after his death, he started the tradition where concubines would be killed, forced to commit suicide, or were buried alive alongside the dead emperor.
Over all, physically and mentally, the consequences of being a concubine were drastic.
Consequences of Foot Binding:
The feet are such a vital part of the human body, particularly for movement and balance. Having bound feet would drastically affect a woman’s balance, her ability to walk, and her posture, as well as cause many other complications such as feet infections and deformities, which could lead to further injuries and make seemingly simple tasks incredibly difficult. For example, relating to older women in particular, the struggle to keep one's balance when bending over or rising from a sitting position could result in falling and breaking a hip. As a result of women struggling to balance and walk properly, foot binding resulted in the forward curvature of the vertebrae. Having bound feet put pressure on the pelvis since it shifted the burden of weight to the lower body, leading to pelvic pain.
The bone growth of these Chinese girls was also affected by this stooped posture and difficulties walking and balancing, as they started the practice at such a young age.
Infection of the feet was one of the most commonly seen complications of foot binding, which could lead to toes falling off, or having to be removed. Although these women were taught to religiously clean and care for their feet and wrappings, naturally, their feet would still continue to grow. This would lead to toes and feet becoming crooked and deformed. The toes would curl downwards and then inwards along the sole of the foot and often, the toenails would grow inside the flesh, resulting in infection.
Girls would be forced to take smaller steps and in order to balance and move around had to sway from side to side when walking, actions that were thought to actually increase their level of attractiveness and gracefulness.
