The Lotus Lovers: The Complete History of the Curious Erotic Custom of Footbinding in China

by Howard S. Levy

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087975687X
• ISBN13: 9780879756871
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

What we do for beauty.

Fascinating book. Unique cultural views of what the women did for the sake of beauty within their era. We think of footbinding and the pain involved as strange. But in today's culture, we think nothing of getting plastic surgery in the form of breast implants, face lifts, botox and much more, all for the same reasons and just as painful. We cannot just enjoy what nature has given us but must add to, take away from, or somehow alter the body that we have received genetically from our parents.

the Art, Method, Tolerance, and Endurance of Footbinding

So much of the history of "common people" is lost, while history and journalism struggle to record the daily events of the notables. In The Lotus Lovers, Levy makes stars out of ordinary peasant women in China. He begins with the history of this intolerable practice, moves on to discuss the emancipation movements, then goes into the oral histories of the bound women. Any question one might have, from the method to the shoes, to the pain of life on bound feet, is answered in these riveting interviews. I highly recommend this book, as it gives significant insight to a culture so very different from our own. To see the types of shoes worn by these women, I suggest the book Splendid Slippers. Splendid Slippers is a "coffee table" summary of Levy's book.