Aching for Beauty : Footbinding in China

Rating:
Summary: The World Behind the Beauty in China
Review: Aching for Beauty is an extensive history of the tradition of footbinding in China. Women were defined by the size of one's feet, a sign of beauty.Wang Ping describes the sexual connotations related to footbinding. I think the book is good,but the contents contains a lot of history and research in order to comprehend the author's intent. The book is more interesting in the second half when Wang Ping desribes female bonding called Tan Chi where women share writing, poetry,and verbal stories. This book would be a great reference in regards to footbinding and Chinese tradition through centuries. It is not an easy read.

Rating:
Summary: Well-Researched and Informative
Review: After enjoying Ping's poetry, I started reading this book. It is wonderfully well-researched. The photos are stunning in their ability to portray the mutilation of the feet. Most interesting is her ability to research this practice from several different views. I was very interested in the arts that promote this practice, as well as how historically it was often difficult to prevent women from continuing the tradition. This book was informative without lapsing into too many stats or technical theories.