Women in chinese society - Priscilla
Friday, August 7, 2009, 5:30 AM
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/studpages/vento.htmlThis is the website whe i got info about the state and treatment of women in China.
Basically a summary of the article and what idea i thought could be used...(possibility)
-No one knows were the tradition of binding feet originated but ppl say that it might have been during the Tang dynasty.
-It started with royalty. Its origins may be perceived as a means of enforcing the imperial male's exclusive sexual access to his female consorts, ensuring their chastity and fidelity.Since the emperor's life was thought to have moral and political significance, information was protected and the physical freedom of the imperial and palace women was restricted. The court's custom of keeping women hidden was echoed in urban society at large, setting standards of behavior that reduced women to a state of near-total domestic seclusion. In those urban centers, such standards were widely observed by women who aspired to elite status.
- This trend set buy the royal family was followed by people from the upper classes as they strived to be considered 'high class'. It is like what a fashion trend is today.
IMPORTANT FOR THE PLAY
- Within the areas and classes in which footbinding was widely accepted, a girl of marriageable age with natural feet had only limited prospects for making a "good" marriage, one which reflected well on her family's ability to raise her properly.[18] Having a daughter with bound feet conferred many potential benefits both on the girl and her family, transforming the biological disadvantage of being born female into a distinct social advantage by increasing her opportunities for making a lucrative marriage. Mothers impressed upon their daughters that the mark of a woman's attraction resided more in her character as revealed in the bind of her feet than in the face or body which nature had given her. Her selection in marriage was the responsibility of her prospective mother-in-law, whose criterion for a good daughter-in-law was the discipline that the bound foot represented, thus a daughter learned that she carried the reputations of both her natal family and the family into which she married in the bind of her feet.[19]
The stepmother could want to emphasize this poinyt in her speech, that she had raised her dautghter allher life, bounded her feet and taught her what must be done and what is needed to marry well. In comparison, perhaps Cinderella's feet were bound before her father died, but after his passing, when she workjed as a maid, her feet were left to grow. Thus, this might be one of the factors that forced the prince to not be able to marry her and the reason the stepsisters feet could not fit the shoe. It was too SMALL.
Reason Cinderella was forced to not bind her feet- Even without the promise of hope for upward mobility which a good marriage provided, women bound their feet to signify their claim on the dignity accorded those who embodied refinement and a "sense of class".
Director: All
Playwrights: Isaac
Secretary: Rachel
Costume: Wenzhen
Set: Priscilla
Lights/Sound: Priscilla
Movement coach: Saad
TSDian
Pris's Rojak I.blog
Rach's Rojak I.blog
Isaac's Rojak I.blog
Other TSD bloggers,
Melvyn
Isaac
Afiqah
Chenxing
Mark
Rachel
June 2009 July 2009 August 2009