Anthropology 275       Reading Report 16
Disease in Prehistory       due 11/13-2007

Answer the following questions based on the chapters from the book by Howard S. Levy. 1966.
Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Erotic Custom. New York: Walton Rawls.

1. Where and when did the custom of footbinding first originate? How was it supported and propagated? What was the cultural significance of foot binding in ancient China?
2. How did footbinding affect a woman's foot? What are some of the changes that occurred in the shape of the foot, skeleton, skin, and soft tissue?
3. What are some suggested physical effects of footbinding on a woman's body?
4. Discuss how bound feet were romanticized in Chinese classic literature.