#footbinding

[shihlun]

[ziseviolet]

Hi, can I ask you something about the gŭojiăo/chánzú practice? I have examined the topic recently, but I didn’t understand if this tradition has involved all the women in China. Anyway, your blog is really interesting 👌🏻

Hi! Thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply!

I addressed the history of chanzu/缠足, aka guojiao/裹脚 (footbinding) in my post here. I also have a footbinding tag with more information.

Hope this helps! (image via)

[dorothygale123]

Today's subject: footbinding! Or more specifically, the myth about the dumbass that started it!

For those who don't know, footbinding is the old Chinese practice of taking young girls and physically restraining their feet in their growth period to keep them small and 'delicate.' It is a very painful process that causes severe complications with mobility that only get worse as you get older. Thankfully, footbinding has been banned in China since 1912, but centuries of girls and women had to suffer through it.

So what kind of psychotic bastard would go out and create it?

Our story begins with the goddess Lu O, cited as having helped keep the world up when it was still forming and becoming a patron of women with shrines to her being built by ladies seeking her aid. This is where Chow-sin, the last king of the Yin dynasty and a real piece of work. You see, he takes one look at Lu O's statue and decides that this ancient and powerful goddess obviously has nothing better to do than become one of his wives. Lu O takes offense to this, obviously, and starts thinking about how to punish him.

One of her attendants, a fox, steps up and says "No worries boss, I got this!"

He does not got this.

Back on earth, the king's officials are trying really hard to convince him that trying to marry a goddess maybe isn't such a good idea, when one of them steps up and volunteers the daughter of a viceroy he doesn't like, saying she's the most beautiful woman ever. The king takes the bait and sends his 'proposal' over.

The viceroy, Su-nan, is understandably reluctant to send his sweet baby girl to this asshat. So reluctant, in fact that they go to war over it for several years. Eventually his daughter, Ta-ki, says she can't stand the suffering for her sake to go on any longer and begs her father to surrender. He eventually does, and Ta-ki is sent to marry Chow-sin.

Now, remember that fox I talked about 2 paragraphs ago? He decides NOW is the best time to show up. Not any time in the past 5 years where there was war and suffering, but now.

😑

Anyways, just before Ta-ki is sent off to marry the king, the fox comes into her room and is all like

"Hey, can I borrow your body? I promise to screw over Chow-sin with it!"

"Will you be responsible with it?"

" ..... yes?"

"........... Then I guess so?"

So he possesses her and because he sucks at his job, his feet turn into itty bitty fox feet. Deciding no one would care and nothing he did would impact generations of women to come, he decides to leave them.

(ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻

So he marries Chow-sin and not only becomes his favorite wife and convinces him to do all kinds of horrible, tyrannical things, he also wows the entire court with Ta-ki's beauty. However, no matter what they did they could never be as pretty as her. The only thing they could hope to imitate was her tiny feet by mutilating themselves and their daughters for the next few centuries.

I swear to God I'm gonna skin him.

Eventually the people have it with the evil king nonsense, rebel and execute Chow-sin. The fox leaves Ta-ki's body and goes back to Lu O for praise ona job well done.

Lu O, the protector of women.

I like to think their conversation went something like this:

Lu O: So, you waited around for five years.

Fox: Yep.

Lu O: Let a war wage on that cost hundreds of men their lives and just as many women their brothers, fathers, or husbands.

Fox: Correct.

Lu O: Possessed an innocent young girl.

Fox: Uh-huh.

Lu O: Used her body to convince the king to commit atrocities- which almost got her executed with him-

Fox: Keyword being 'almost!'

Lu O: Started a painful and debilitating practice that has already caused untold pain for countless girls and women-

Fox: I did? When?

Lu O: And you want to know if you did a good job.

Fox: .... Yes?

I feel like he needed new employment after that.

Sh*tpost Masterlist

[ancientorigins]

Throughout history, men and women alike have suffered pain and agony in the name of beauty - from the practices of body modification in indigenous tribes throughout the world, to suffocatingly tight corsets in Europe, and modern practices of piercings, tattoos, and various forms of cosmetic surgery.

[always-returning]

By the time I was forty, the rigidity of my footbinding had moved from my golden lilies to my heart, which held on to injustices and grievances so strongly that I could no longer forgive those I loved and who loved me.

Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

[no-hands]

[lightdancer1]

The Qing share with the Mughals and the Raj one irony:

The long and gruesome history of footbinding in China is not without an irony matching the Sati bans of Mughals and Raj. The Qing were conquerors who ruled their new domains with an iron fist and suppressed rebellions in oceans of blood. And it is precisely for efforts to ban footbinding, which was a measurable IMPROVEMENT for Chinese women that the Qing received criticism in traditional Chinese writings. Not entirely so much under the PRC which has the usual Communist distortions on history where events are tortured to fit into Marx's teleological-religious narrative, admittedly, and thus everything must fit into various categories of Marx's work whether or not this is remotely truthful to the society in question.

The Qing sought to outlaw the custom but the efforts, while repeated, were unsuccessful. The PRC would ultimately do far more here.

[comradekatara]

i've been thinking about the significance of toph's feet as the crux of her power against/alongside the practice of footbinding. considering her role situated within (an analog for) tang dynasty nobility, thinking through that cultural practice poses direct relevance regarding the overarching theme of how she transcends imposed boundaries, in terms of gender roles, class expectations, and of course along the axis of her disability. i can only gesture to these ideas because i lack the historical framework to construct a legitimate argument, but i'm wondering whether anyone more knowledgable regarding these historical contexts (@atlaculture comes to mind, but of course no pressure!) would like to extrapolate from these ideas.

[romanceyourdemons]

one difference between anglosphere and chinese period piece film is anglosphere pieces can not stop going on about the Torturous Cruelty of corsets, and meanwhile a solid 99% of chinese period pieces are set in the Footbinding Never Happened Cinematic Universe

[madtomedgar]

I don't get the like "it only stopped because men decided they didn't like it, meaning the women liked the thing and were the main forces behind it" about body modifications for women. Like. If the *point* of those body modifications is to ensure a good marriage and desirability, and essentially your market decides they don't like the product anymore, then yes, it will stop. It stops when men decide they don't like it because they are the ones with societal power, and their interest or disinterest determines the entire trajectory of women's lives in these societies. Kind of like how if colleges stopped asking for SAT scores and in fact looked down on students who took it, parents would stop pushing their kids to do well on the SAT because the point of it is to set you up for a successful position for the rest of your life, not because they think the thing itself is inherently good or fun.

[dearings]

these literally look like the shoes my laolao always wore 😭

[arugula2048]

reading dworkin and the endless, endless instances of casual, absurd, soul-sucking cruelties that men have, do, and will thoughtlessly, perversely, gleefully, disdainfully inflict on women...

[diamondnokouzai]

ohhhh nooooo

[youremyheaven]

Venusians: The Cult of Exclusivity

In my research, I have stumbled upon Venusians either being drawn into cults or being cult leaders. It did not surprise me particularly. All Venusian nakshatras (Bharani, Purvaphalguni, Purvashada) are ugra nakshatras known for being "violent". Venus is in itself, a harsh planet. In fact, all the benefic planets (Jupiter, Venus, Mercury & Moon- in that order) are harsh and for good reason; its natives have to be "purified" by the working of those planetary energies to earn its blessings. Venus values exclusivity and separatism. There is a reason why Venus attracts Venus. It is a kind of elitism. We talk about how rare beauty and glamour is these days and we fawn over the nonchalance and effortless cool of low key & mysterious celebrities. If someone or something is plastered everywhere, it loses its "special" feeling, Venus does not mingle with the masses, Venus sets the standard, its THE blue print but it does not involve itself with anything directly, they like to sit back and watch others ape them.

All 3 Venus nakshatras have yoni animals that point to a highly sexual nature and high libido. Bharani with its elephant yoni signals an immense sexual appetite (elephant being the largest land animal and yoni animal), Purvaphalguni and its rat yoni points to freaky deaky sexual behaviour and Purvashada and monkey yoni ,,, well,, monkeys are known for their lovemaking and how human like it is so..

Sex is a big focus of all 3 Venus nakshatras, with Bharani's themes of birth and death and its symbol literally being the yoni, Purvaphalguni representing the pleasures of the bed and being symbolised by the front legs of the cot and Purvashada with its connection to water, where life originated. Venus is more than just beauty and beauty itself is more profound than "looking good". Venus is beauty, romance, love, creativity, harmony, values etc.

I have talked about Venusian men and their tendency to be drawn to violence before. If we think of sex, it is a kind of violent act in itself, there has to be a back and forth of domination and submission. If we look at animals, male animals often kill other males to eliminate competition and establish themselves as the alpha that the females pick but even in coitus with female animals (literally watch any nature documentary) the male takes on a very aggressive, dominant approach and they often look like theyre trying to kill each other (people say things like "making love like animals" for a reason, sexual courtesy is a humane, civilised approach but animals are not wired that way). In Venusian men, this kind of aggressive erotic sexual persona is very apparent and Claire said these men embody "big dick energy".

Occult knowledge is gatekept and one literally cannot access it until one is initiated into it. Regardless of whether or not we recognise it as such, there are cults of knowledge all around us and we do not even know of their existence unless we've made it past their barrier and can access it. even explaining things defeats the purpose because only someone who's ready to understand it will be able to. Its nature's way of shielding itself from the unwise or the unworthy. you can be surrounded by this knowledge and still not be able to tap into it, if you do not have the discernment. this is a kind of Venusian exclusivity.

If you think about it beauty is pain. These days we see people literally endure pain to be beautiful via cosmetic procedures but this has always been the case, victorian women used arsenic to keep their skin pale and glowy and ammonia in their hair. footbinding was a common custom for Chinese women. but even beyond enduring pain to be beautiful, if you're beautiful you will have to endure pain, be it in the way others hurt you and ostracize you out of jealousy or in how people just assume crazy shit about you. Venusian women NEED to remain lowkey bc they're more susceptible to evil eye.

(im thinking of the song pretty hurts by purvaphalguni sun beyonce 👀)

anywaaayys (me going on a random tangent exhibit 62772). we know that Venusians value and need exclusivity, they're the most clique-y in some ways and this is what makes them drawn to cults lol. A cult is as exclusive as it gets. nothing screams "im not like the others" than being a part of a cult lol

Osho- Purvashada Stellium (moon, mercury and venus)

Osho was an Indian spiritual guru and mystic. His commune and the crazy shit that went on there was the subject of the docu-series Wild Wild Country.

Sadhguru- Purvaphalguni Sun

he is an indian guru. i think its interesting how cults have to have a physical existence by way of a commune that people gather in or live in, its not just conceptual if ykwim. i think this is another manifestation of Venusian exclusivity. entering into a cult means entering and inhabiting a different world. Osho had Rajneeshpuram, Sadhguru has his Isha Centre.

Sun Myung Moon- Bharani Moon

He was the leader of the Unification Church, a famous South Korean cult and he claimed to be the Messiah

Moon was intent on replacing worldwide forms of Christianity with his new unified vision of it, Moon being a self-declared messiah. Moon's followers regard him as a separate person from Jesus but with a mission to basically continue and complete Jesus's work in a new way, according to the Principle.

Nirmala Srivastava- Bharani Moon conjunct Mars

aka Mataji Nirmala Devi, she was the founder of the religion called Sahaja Yoga. She claimed that she was a divine incarnation, more precisely an incarnation of the Holy Spirit, or the Adi Shakti of the Hindu tradition, the great mother goddess who had come to save humanity. This is also how she is regarded by most of her devotees. she has said that she was born "self realised" and spent her life "helping" others do the same

The Venusian urge to start a new religion 😤😤😤lol

Religion is exclusive and if you do not have the discipline to endure its rules, you cannot gain access to its blessings. Religion esp eastern religion is extremely Venusian af, there are wonderful blessings for those who devote themselves to it and cruel sickening punishments for those who disobey. thats as Venusian as it gets

Anandamayi Ma- Bharani Sun, exalted Venus in Revati as her atmakaraka

She was an Indian saint, teacher, and mystic. She was revered as an incarnation of Hindu goddess Durga.

Her life was suffused in Bhakti Yoga and she was considered an epitome of "divine grace" that inspired the societal cultural milieu to lead the path of service, love and constant remembrance of the divine. Her followers experienced her spiritual attributes including precognition, faith healing and miracles. Paramahansa Yogananda translates the Sanskrit epithet Anandamayi as "Joy-permeated" in English. This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe her perpetual state of divine joy.

she wasn't a cult leader or anything, just a guru even though she rejected even that label (spiritual gurus are a dime a dozen in india, no one who's actually worth their salt will label themselves as a guru)

i think Venus' connection to religion, cults and the occult is underexplored af. the highest form of love is devotion and religion/cults demand it of their followers making it a very Venusian experience. sex, love and religion are all closely connected, people experience trance like states when they're orgasmic or during periods of intense meditation (it can also be artificially induced via drugs etc but euphoria is naturally experienced through either prayer or sex) if you look at paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses, their eyes always seem so blissed out? same goes for truly spiritual people, you can immediately sense the tranquillity of their energy and the dreaminess of their gaze, like they're not of this world.

even the word "Ananda" which means joyous, etymologically means "without end" (Ah- meaning "without in Sanskrit and nand- meaning end) so the goal of any spiritual pursuit is self realization/actualisation and a person who achieves that seems joyous all the time. Many spiritual gurus have Ananda as part of their name as well.

Swami Vivekananda- Purvashada Rising

He was a monk, philosopher and religious teacher who is widely credited with introducing Hinduism to the West.

“All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love's sake, because it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live."- Swami Vivekananda

Paramhansa Yogananda- Purvashada Sun

Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian-American Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India.

Mother Theresa- Bharani Moon & Saturn, Mars in Purvaphalguni

Mother Theresa was an Albanian nun who came to India and helped the poor and the needy. She established charitable settlements that have come under fire for mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.

Now I'll talk about some people who've gained a cult-like following or were revered in their time and considered akin to God.

Eva Peron- Bharani Sun

Known by her nickname Evita, she was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until her death in July 1952. She was revered by the lower economic classes and helped enact a number of reforms and policies to their benefit. She also helped bring about the passage of Argentina's women's suffrage law. even decades after her passing, the grip she has on people in Argentina is crazyyy.

fun fact: Madonna, Purvaphalguni Moon & Rising played Evita in the movie of the same name in 1996.

Tito- Bharani Sun

Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death in 1980

He was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad. He remains a popular leader in the former countries of Yugoslavia. Tito was viewed as a unifying symbol, with his internal policies maintaining the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav federation. his legacy lives on and he was a VVV popular

Rasputin- Bharani Moon

He was a quack with no actual powers but man did he have a following

Rasputin was a Russian mystic and holy man. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire

Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination.

Taylor Swift- Purvashada Rising

Taylor's chokehold over her fandom is insane. I think it's due to her PA Rising bc wheww

There is a reason why Venusian influence is sooo common in the charts of it girls and icons. Venus is THE blue print, it makes others want to be like you and imitate you and also claim they hate you or dont know you all in the same breath.

Trisha Paytas-Bharani Sun & Jupiter, Ketu in Purvaphalguni

Trisha has a cult like following whether u want to admit it or not. Girlie has been doing this for a decade and a half and is still somehow relevant?? literally most of her contemporaries have been cancelled or left the platform and she's still standing?? despite a gazillion controversies that too lol

Now I'll mention some famous celebrities who are in/have been in cults

John Travolta- Purvaphalguni Moon

He was/is a Scientologist

Park Bogum- Bharani Moon & Venus

Bogum is part of Jesus Centred Church which is a cult and he was apparently even given his name by the founder/leader of the cult. There have been rumours that Bogum left the controversial church/cult and joined a normal church but there isnt enough info to confirm this

Nazanin Boniadi- Purvaphalguni Moon

She is a former Scientologist who was "trained" to be Tom Cruise's gf before he met Katie Holmes. read about the crazy and torturous stuff she was subjected to and you'll wonder why tf scientology hasn't been shut down by the government yet

Ruslana Korushnova- Purvaphalguni Moon

She was found dead at 20yrs old under mysterious circumstances. i do not think she committed suicide at all but she spent some time at the Rose of the World which is a culty organisation.

British TV producer and filmmaker Peter Pomerantsev has theorised that Korshunova's suicide was related to her involvement with Rose of the World, a controversial Moscow-based organisation which describes itself as "training for personality development". While researching for a documentary into Korshunova's death, Pomerantsev learned that the model spent three months attending training sessions at Rose of the World. These sessions—which encourage participants to share their worst experiences and recall repressed memories—are modelled after Lifespring, whose controversial methods were the subject of multiple lawsuits for mental damages in the US during the 1980s. Korshunova attended training sessions with a friend, Ukrainian model Anastasia Drozdova, who committed suicide under similar circumstances in 2009. Friends of the two women reported changes in behaviour after several months at the Rose. Korshunova became aggressive, while Drozdova experienced violent mood swings and grew reclusive; both lost weight. After three months of training, Korshunova returned to New York to look for work, where she wrote of feeling lost and doubting herself. Rick Alan Ross, head of the Cult Education Forum, argues that organisations such as Rose of the World "work like drugs: giving you peak experiences, their adherents always coming back for more. The serious problems start when people leave. The trainings have become their lives—they come back to emptiness. The sensitive ones break." Only months after leaving the Rose, Korshunova was found dead.

Michelle Pfeiffer- Bharani Sun, Purvaphalguni Moon, Rohini Rising

She was involved with Breatharianism, a cult that believes that you don’t need to eat food (Say what?!). She joined after moving to Los Angeles and looking for a group to feel comfortable with. They focused on diet and exercise but believed that people could live by sunlight alone at the highest level of the cult. She actually realized that she was in a cult after helping her first husband Peter Horton prepare for a movie role where he played a cult member. She said, “We were talking with an ex-Moonie, and he was describing the psychological manipulation and I just clicked.” (crazy to me that the not eating real food did not click??)

Rose McGowan- Purvaphalguni Sun & Mercury, Mars in Bharani

She spent her childhood in the Children of God cult and her family fled from its clutches after they started advocating for adult-child sexual intercourse🤮🤮🤮

Sharon Tate- Purvaphalguni Moon

Sharon wasn't a member of a cult but a victim of one :((((

Sofia Hayat- Purvaphalguni Moon

Sofia was a model, then she quit the industry to be a nun, now she calls herself a shaman and a healer and posts weirdly sexual vids on IG

Zaira Wasim- Purvaphalguni Moon

she quit acting to devote herself to religion and because she felt that being in Bollywood made her lose touch with her faith.

This is a very Venusian experience imo and one of the reasons why Venus thrives in keeping itself hidden or taking away other people's access to it is because otherwise Venusians feel contaminated almost?? other project onto them heavily and they feel clouded by it, unsure of their own identities. they feel like they're losing touch with themselves. many Venusian celebs are known for frequently changing their persona (Bella Hadid, Ariana Grande etc come to mind) the more time they spend exposing themselves to others, the more confused they become about who they are, they lack a stable self image.

Religion and faith can act as stabilisers and help these natives feel more grounded.

A reason why Venusians (idk if you noticed by most of the gurus were Purvashadas and most of the followers I mentioned were Purvaphalgunis, with an equal mix of Bharani natives in both) are drawn into cults is also because Venusians can only thrive in Venusian environments?? Otherwise they feel desolate and lost, a lot of people join cults because they don't feel understood or connected to people in their normal life. cults look for people who need help, and give it to them on predatory conditions.

Purvashadas are often spiritual leaders/gurus but seldom blindly devoted followers because being the final Venus nak, it transcends this toxic grip of Venus. Purvaphalguni is the height of Venus and these natives are constantly seeking spiritual truth and belonging but never quite ascending, as it is Venus at its most indulgent. Bharani is the first Venusian nak and I have found that the first nak of any planetary dominance is in some ways its "softest" manifestation, its the baby among the naks. The nak in the middle is the peak/height of that planetary energy and thus, the most cruel or harsh manifestation of that energy along with the concluding nak but the concluding nak also kind of transcends its influence??

high fashion/luxury etc is also very Venusian bc theyre the ones who covet having things others dont have. anywayyys this is just a stray thought lol

hope this was informative!!

[no-hands]

[gatheringbones]

[“Talking to one another in the nude made us more realistic about our physical selves. We took turns sharing how we felt about our bodies and our orgasms. I made it a point to go first to set an example by intimately sharing my own current feelings. It was amazing to hear a woman with a beautiful body tear herself apart, while another woman who was easily fifty pounds overweight explain why she liked her body and felt comfortable in it. When a woman expressed unqualified love for her body, she became our inspiration for selflove.

When we talked about orgasm, our images were either unclear or confused. For one woman, the experience of orgasm was a major emotional event; for another, it was a minor pleasure, and for yet another, it was a complete mystery. Often one or two women weren’t sure if they were having orgasms, and they either had no idea what to expect or they had unrealistic romantic expectations. Several women who had said they were not coming discovered they were having little orgasms. They had thought all orgasms were shatteringly intense like the ones they had read about in erotic literature. Most of the other women were orgasmic one way or another, but they were interested in learning more about masturbation. Some women had good orgasms with oralsex but not with intercourse. Others could come with intercourse but couldn’t get off alone. Still others were having orgasms with themselves but not with a partner. All of the orgasmic women agreed on one thing: their experience of orgasms varied greatly from one orgasm to the next.

After all the talking, it was time for action. I would start off by doing a skit imitating myself in the “proper” female role. I pretended to be teetering off balance in the modern footbinding of high heels. Draping myself into feminine poses, I occupied as small a space as possible. It was a good imitation because when I was a fashion illustrator, I’d taken “femininity” to its extremes. Everyone would laugh with recognition. Then we’d practice standing up straight, looking at our posture in a mirror. Walking tall with our heads up, tits out, buttocks tucked under, and clits forward completely changed our appearances and attitudes.”]

betty dodson, from orgasms for one: the joy of selfloving, 1992