Abstract:By focusing on a Heaven Given Foot Society established by western missionaries in Tianjin at the end of the nineteenth century, this paper examines the historical evidence presented by the 19th century newspaper of Peking and Tientsin Times to determine the ways in which various social groups developed their own narratives through the discourse against "foot-binding." Among them, Western males, including politicians and missionaries, approached Chinese women's bound feet from a religious perspective and regarded that as a vain Chinese custom this practice should be abolished in the name of civilization. Western females missionaries took a feminist position and determined to fight against the Chinese patriarchy through encouraging Chinese women to unbind their feet. Chinese male elites considered the issue of foot-binding, or unbinding, a domestic affair and attempted to regain control of women. Depending on the differences in nationalities, gender, and educational backgrounds, each group had its own understanding and propaganda strategies towards Chinese women's exercise of unbinding their feet.
秦方. 近代反缠足话语下的差异视角——以19世纪末天津天足会为中心的考察[J]. 妇女研究论丛, 2016, 0(3): 63-70.
QIN Fang. Different Perspectives in the Modern Discourse against Foot-Binding: Based on a Study of the Tien Tsu Hui in Tianjin in Late 19th. , 2016, 0(3): 63-70.
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