We Should Control Our "National Resource" - Let See What Did Other Countries Do

Number 1: Chinese Foot Binding

 

            Foot binding was the custom of binding the feet of young girls painfully tight to prevent further growth. In fact, this custom was practiced for approximated one thousand years in China, beginning in the tenth century and ending in the first half of twentieth century. In the first plce, it was carried out only among the elite and only in the wealthiest parts of China. This practice shows the ability of the husbands to afford their wives who did not need to work, who existed only to serve their husbands and direct household servants while performing no labor themselves. In the poorer families, it was usual to bind the feet of the eldest daughter, who was intended to be brought up as a lady. Her large-footed sisters would grow up to be servants or slaves, and, when old enough, become the wives of laboring men.

Number 2:European Corset Wearing

         

        Corset was used for the first time by the wife of King Henry II of France in the sixteenth century. In the middle of nineteenth century, during the Victorian era, wearing corset was regarded morally necessary. Tight lacing was considered virtuous - a loose corset was probably a sign of a loose woman. To keep her innocence and virtuosity, a lady had to be chaperoned everywhere she went.

        Similar to the phenomenon of Chinese foot binding where at the beginning it was practiced among the wealthiest families, corset was also mostly worn by high class ladies. Lower class ladies would wear looser corsets and simpler clothes, with less weight.

Number 3: Brass coils

 

              In Kayan, a country besides Thailand, women need to wear neck rings, which are brass coils that help make their necks look longer. These coils are first applied to young girls when they are around five years old.

              Each coil is replaced with longer coil, as the weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. Contrary to popular belief, the neck is not actually lengthened; the illusion of a stretched neck is created by the deformation of the clavicle.

             The coils originate from the desire to look more attractive by exaggerating sexual characteristic, as women have more slender necks than men. It also been suggested that the coils give the women resemblance to a dragon, which is a important figure in Kayan folklore.

 

Remind Your Women How To Dress

          Compare to these customs, our Gilead society is much more humane. We organise our ladies by letting wives in blue, daughters in white, Handmaids in red, Marthas in green and Aunts in brown. Women in general support Gilead's existence by willingly participating in it, serving as agents of our state. While a woman like Serena Joy as a wife, she exercises authority within her own household and delight in her control over the Handmaids. In a similar way, the women know as Aunts, especially Aunt Lydia, act as willing agents of our state. They indoctrinate other women into the ruling ideology and keep a close eye out for rebellion. Classifying women is necessary all societies, but as you can see, we are not merely separate them by clothing; we help them to learn, and willing participating in their roles.