The following is my assignment:

Research on the history of the Chinese custom of Foot Binding and post your comment with regards to quotation in your teacher’s MLG discussion forum. Your comment should show understanding of gender issues.

"If you love your daughter, bind her feet; if you love your son, let him study."

My comments:
According to my research, legend has it that origins of foot binding go back as far as the Shang dynasty (1700-1027 B.C.). However, historical records from the Song dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) date foot binding as beginning during the reign of Li Yu, who ruled over one region of China between 961-975. It is said his heart was captured by a concubine, Yao Niang, a talented dancer who bound her feet to suggest the shape of a new moon and performed a "lotus dance." Some estimate that as many as 2 billion Chinese women broke and bound their feet to attain this agonizing ideal of physical perfection. Author Yang Yang says that women with tiny feet were a status symbol who would bring honor upon the entire clan by their appearance.

With respect to gender discrimination, I feel that foot binding is in fact the cruelest punishment to women at that time. It is unfair that they have to go through so much pain just to attain the so-called “perfection” so as to marry a good husband when a man can go through education. Which scientific fact has proven this assumption? How can a twisted deformed foot be a form of “physical perfection”?

To bind your feet, a bandage, ten feet long and two inches wide was wrapped tightly around the foot, forcing the four small toes under the sole of the foot. This causes bones to break and worse of all, blood circulation is obstructed. If the bindings were too tight they could cut off circulation which could lead to gangrene and blood poisoning. With the lack of circulation flesh would rot and fall off and sometimes the toes would ooze pus. The pain was said to have been excruciating especially if this process was begun at a later age. Furthermore, the ideal foot had to fit into a shoe only three to four inches long.

A Chinese saying says, "Every pair of small feet costs a bath of tears". Indeed it is true. If a mother loves her daughter, she would have to make her daughter go through the unbearable pain. But all of this is ultimately to her good- to find a respectable husband. These women disfigured their feet to guarantee their own future, but this act ultimately consigned them to tragic lives. Whereas for the guys, parents would let them study out of love. This shows how biased the society was against the women. If one argues that a man is more valued because he carries the family line, then can I ask who has given birth to this man? In that case, should a woman be more respected? Nevertheless, there are man and woman in this world because they coexist and are interdependent. Hence, they should be equally treated. Gender discrimination should not exist.

Acknowledgements:
http://www.josephrupp.com/story15.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8966942
http://hvattum.net/index.php/2007/05/19/chinese-foot-binding/
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/beekeeper/foot.html

After completing the assignment, until now i still feel disgusted.
Try visiting the third link above, you'll understand why..
Oh man! foot binding is so CRUEL!