Feet and Fabrication: Footbinding and Early Twentieth-Century Rural Women's Labor in Shaanxi

• Published in: Modern China Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 347 - 383
• Main Authors: Bossen, Laurel, Xurui, Wang, Brown, Melissa J., Gates, Hill
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications 01-07-2011; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: 20th century; Agriculture - economics; Agriculture - education; Agriculture - history; Anthropology, Cultural - education; Anthropology, Cultural - history; Asian cultural groups; China; China - ethnology; Chinese; Cotton; Counties; Economic Conditions; Employment - economics; Employment - history; Fabrication; Factories; Females; Foot Bones; Foot Deformities - ethnology; Foot Deformities - history; Footbinding; Gazetteers; Hierarchy, Social - history; History of medicine; History, 20th Century; Interviews; Labour; Looms; Older adults; Peoples Republic of China; Production; Railway systems; Rural Areas; Rural communities; Rural Population - history; Shaanxi; Social Change - history; Social Class - history; Textile industry; Textile Industry - economics; Textile Industry - education; Textile Industry - history; Textiles - economics; Textiles - history; Tradition; Twentieth Century; Weaving; Women; Women's Health - ethnology; Women's Health - history; Women, Working - education; Women, Working - history; Women, Working - legislation & jurisprudence; Women, Working - psychology; Working women; Yarns; China; Chinese women; cotton; Shaanxi; textile production; footbinding
• ISSN: 0097-7004; 1552-6836
• DOI: 10.1177/0097700411403265

The early twentieth-century transformations of rural Chinese women's work have received relatively little direct attention. By contrast, the former custom of footbinding continues to fascinate and is often used to illustrate or contest theories about Chinese women's status. Arguing that for rural women at least, footbinding needs to be understood in relation to rural economic conditions, the authors focus on changes in textile production and in footbinding in two counties in Shaanxi province. Drawing on historical sources and their own interview data from rural women who grew up in this period, the authors find evidence that transformations in textile production undercut the custom of footbinding and contributed to its rapid demise.