Yet, foot binding was a painful practice and significantly limited the mobility of women, resulting in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Cinderella s sistersargues that rather than stemming from sexual perversion, men. Ko, professor of history, joined the faculty of barnard in 2001. Dorothy ko s daring in taking on the difficult subject of footbinding has resulted in a tourdeforce. Cinderellas sisters and footbinding breezes from wonderland. A unique look into the nineteenthcentury clash of empires from both sides of the earthshaking encounter, this book reveals the connections between international law, modern warfare, and comparative grammarand their influence on the shaping of the modern world in eastern and western terms.
Throughout her narrative, ko combines methods of social history, literary. The shifting meanings of footbinding in seventeenthcentury china journal of womens history 4 1997 7 ko, dorothy cinderellas sisters. The practice originated in the dance culture of chinas medieval court and spread to gentry families, brothels, m. Cinderella s sisters argues that rather than stemming from sexual perversion.
Banks 1127, the notion of natural as heavenly feet the chinese word tianzu encompasses both was, as dorothy ko notes. Lilienthal asian studies imprint 1 by dorothy ko isbn. Pdf every step a lotus download full pdf book download. The early twentiethcentury transformations of rural chinese womens work have received relatively little direct attention. Dorothy kos new history of footbinding is a wonderfully imaginative, wideranging, and provocative study of a subject long in need of revisionism. She was also once a leader of an iron girl team on a state rubber farm. People dorothy ko the heyman center for the humanities. Movement and the histories of boundfeet women in china.
Dorothy ko, a native of hong kong, is professor of chinese history at barnard college, columbia university. Dorothy ko is a professor of history and womens studies at the barnard college of columbia. The history of footbinding is full of contradictions and unexpected turns. The author collects everything that is known about footbinding in china, using color and blackandwhite photography to chronicle the history of the practice. On a subject that has engendered lengthy treatises, strong emotions, and endless fascination, i wish to emulate professor wests lack of sentimentality in this book. This book is awarded the joan kelley memorial prize from the american historical association for the best book on womens history or feminist theory published in the year. Buy cinderellas sisters by dorothy ko from waterstones today. Footbinding had to be eliminated, in their view, if china was to ever become a part of the modern world. Download gu jin tan ebook for free in pdf and epub format. In cinderellas sisters, dorothy ko, who teaches chinese history at columbia, takes on one of the. Foot binding was practiced in different forms, and the more severe form of binding may have been developed in. The analysis of selffashioning, representation and political propaganda sheds new.
Her ingenious narrative strategyputting the modern story of foobindings. Gender and sexuality in modern chinese history by susan l. Neither condemning nor defending footbinding, dorothy ko debunks many myths and misconceptions about its origins, development, and eventual end, exploring in the process the entanglement of male power and female desire during the practices thousandyear history. The social life of inkstones explores the hidden history and cultural significance of the inkstone and puts the stonecutters and artisans on center stage. Project muse sex, religion, and the new woman in china. She cant get enough of the stories surrounding her boss sinclair drummonds ancestors. Cinderellas sisters by dorothy ko paperback university of. Neither condemning nor defending footbinding, dorothy ko debunks many myths and.
Dorothy ko, jahyun kim haboush, and joan piggott, editors, women and confucian cultures in premodern china, korea, and japan university of california press, 2003. Kos premise is that footbinding was an embodied experience, a reality to a select group of women from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. Ko s book, as the subtitle suggest, is a revisionist history of an unwritten story that explicitly seeks to disrupt received truths. Hello select your address best sellers deals store help deals store help. Dorothy kos book puts footbinding in as complete a context as i have encountered. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. She is the author of the recent monograph, cinderellas sisters. A revisionist history of footbinding, dorothy ko points out that the chinese abolitionists were mainly men, and their core argument was aimed at the perceived. Of footbinding, my colleague stephen west has this to say, in his characteristic deadpan manner.
By contrast, the former custom of footbinding continues to fascinate and is often used to illustrate or contest theories about chinese womens status. What is lost in translation may be a war, a world, a way of life. A revisionist history of footbinding university of california press, 2007. Ko may as well, she never says, but her goal in cinderellas sisters was to present an unbiased, nonjudgemental history of footbinding as far as such a thing is possible. Such exhilarating moment of scholarly achievement was acknowledged when this book won the joan kelley memorial prize from the american.
Dorothy ko also highlights the craftswoman gu erniang, through whose work the artistry of inkstonemaking achieved unprecedented refinement between the 1680s and 1730s. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Indeed, so prevalent has been its condemnation that footbinding has been an uncontroversial issue in the history of modern china. A revisionist history of footbinding has been the standard work on the ancient practice for several years now.
Prior to coming to barnard, she taught at the university of california at san diego and at rutgers university, new. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free. The year 2005 was a fielddefining moment for scholarships on footbinding and the body in china with dorothy kos highly acclaimed monograph cinderellas sisters, a revisionist history of footbinding. A revisionist history of footbinding berkeley university of california press 2005. Dorothy kos daring in taking on the difficult subject of footbinding has resulted in a tourdeforce. In cinderellas sisters she rises above nationalist, feminist, and orientalist polemic to place footbinding clearly in the domain of the history of fashion. A revisionist history of footbinding university of california press, 2005. A revisionist history of footbinding by dorothy ko. The cinderella act nothing appeals to housekeeper annies sense of romance like hunting for a missing heirloom. Dorothy ko university of california press, 2007 a selfproclaimed alternative history of the practice of footbinding in china, cinderellas sisters is a gratifyingly challenging book. Neither condemning nor defending footbinding, dorothy ko debunks many myths and misconceptions about its origins, development, and eventual end, exploring in the process the entanglements of male power and female desires during the practices thousandyear history.
Foot binding was the custom of applying tight binding to the feet of young girls to modify the. Cinderellas sisters a revisionist history of footbinding. Dorothy ko s book puts footbinding in as complete a context as i have encountered. And when they search his mansion together, she cant get enough of him either. Unlimited viewing of the articlechapter pdf and any associated supplements and figures. There are a number of stories about the origin of foot binding before its establishment during the song. A revisionist history of footbinding 9780520253902. In cinderella s sisters she rises above nationalist, feminist, and orientalist polemic to place footbinding clearly in the domain of the history of fashion. Cinderellas sisters argues that rather than stemming from sexual perversion. A revisionist history of footbinding as want to read. In addition to her teaching duties for the department of history, she is affiliated with the barnard womens.