Footbinding in the Novel

31 traditional practices are created and how they serve to standardize how a person is expected to live, think, and actbehave well in that society. The social function of traditional practices is to motivate members of society to fulfill the social roles expected by them Maryati and Suryawati, 2001. The Chinese women in the novel had already internalized very well the values of their society and knew how they should respond towards the cultural phenomena of footbinding and lack of access to education. The two main characters in the novel, Lily and Snow Flower, obeyed all the rules in their society without confronting at all. Both of them realized, as Chinese women, they were obliged to obey their father, their husband, and their son. This was the reason why they obeyed when their feet were bound and when they were not allowed to study like the boys.

a. Footbinding in the Novel

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Footbinding itself was described in the novel not only as an obligation that a girl had to submit to when she was about six years old but also as the determination of the social status they would have if the binding was perfect. The desire to improve social status was the main cause of the practice of footbinding in China. The two main characters, Lily and Snow Flower, were bound at the same time because they were lao tong which means they were sworn sisters until the end of their life. Lily came from a poor family. Her father was a farmer. Snow Flower, however, was introduced as coming from a wealthy family. Later, it is revealed that Snow Flower lied. Her formerly wealth family was already bankrupt. It means both of them came from poor families. By binding their feet, there was a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 32 hope that their life could be changed. They went through the ordeal of footbinding well. However, they had a different result in their footbinding. Lily had perfect feet that caused her to marry to a man from a rich family in Tongkou, but Snow Flower did not. This situation led her to marry a butcher. The process of binding the feet was done very carefully by the girl’s mother. One false step, it could result in death. There are seven things to achieve a pair of perfectly bound feet. “They should be small, narrow, straight, pointed, and arched, yet still fragrant and soft in texture” See, 2005, p. 31. The time needed to produce the desired effect was about two years. In these two years, the girls would feel extreme physical and mental pain. However, it was never felt as a big deal since there was a reward awaiting them. Its process is described by the narrator as follows. Mama washed my feet and rubbed them with alum, to contract the tissue and limit the inevitable secretions of blood and pus. She cut my toenails as short as possible. During this time, my bandages were soaked, so that when they dried on my skin, they would tighten even more. Next, Mama took one end of a bandage, placed it on my instep, then pulled it over my four smallest toes to begin the process of rolling them underneath my foot. From here, she wrapped the bandage back around my heel. Another loop around the ankle was to get my toes and heel to meet, creating the cleft, but leaving my big toe to walk on. See, p. 32 As the writer mentioned before, footbinding was the obligatory for most Chinese women. Having a girl is already considered as a thing that a father cannot be proud of. It will also be an embarrassing thing for a family if their girl cannot find a husband. Jackson 2005 stated that “the worst thing that could happen to a Chinese woman of the past was to be deemed unmarriageable” p. 12. Therefore, in order to be marriageable, a girl was forced to have tiny feet like a bud of a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 33 lotus. This kind of thought was influenced by Confucian ideals which have two main thoughts, Three Obediences and Four Virtues. Because they lived in the Confucian society, the different realm of men and women was understood very well. This standardized how a woman should live in the family and society. It was no matter whether a woman came from a poor or a rich family. Every woman had to obey the rules. To be clearer, See describes the Confucian ideal dealing with the different realm of men and women as follows: I also knew the difference between nei—the inner realm of the home—and wai—the outer realm of men—lay at the very heart of Confucian society. Whether you are rich or poor, emperor or slave, the domestic sphere is for women and the outside sphere is for men. Women should not pass beyond the inner chambers in their thoughts or in their actions. See, p. 28-29 The girls had to bind their feet in order to be able to marry and later have a son. Footbinding became the most important phase that a woman had to go through in her life. This is supported by the quotation by the narrator: “All I knew was that footbinding would make me more marriageable and therefore bring me closer to the greatest love and greatest joy in a woman’s life—a son” See, p. 31. If a girl does not marry, she will embarrass her family and be considered of no values. A Chinese old saying states: “’If a daughter doesn’t marry out, she’s not valuable; if fire doesn’t raze the mountain, the land will not be fertile.’” See, p. 101 So, the main function of footbinding for Chinese women was to determine their fate later: when a Chinese woman had a pair of perfect feet, they would be led to a bright future. Neither pretty face nor good body shape guaranteed them a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 34 good marriage. The following quotation supports that having tiny feet is much more important than having a pretty face. “The girl is indeed very lovely, but golden lilies are far more important in life than a pretty face. A lovely face is a gift from Heaven, but tiny feet can improve social standing. … It is not such a bad thing to make a good alliance for a daughter. A high family will bring you better connection, a better bride-price, and long-term political and economic protection.” See, p. 25 Then, Jackson 1997 stated that “The key attribute of the perfectly bound foot, of course, was length. Three inches, or even less, was the ideal, and only a foot this size earned the title of Golden Lily” p. 24. From this quotation, it is clear that foot size mattered a lot. Besides, the perfectly bound feet were in the shape of a lotus bud. A good shape was a proof that a girl had passed successfully through the agony of footbinding, and therefore she was both disciplined and patient. Lily is able to show her discipline to pass it well. She is also patient to endure the pain caused by her rotten feet. Unfortunately, her sister, Third Sister, cannot pass it well because of her confrontation when her feet are bound. The infection led to her death. Therefore, a pair of perfect feet something a woman could be proud of. The fact that women actually felt pride in their small feet shows that footbinding did indeed perform the social function of inducing women to accept yhr role and the behavior which the male-dominated society demanded of them. As stated above, a woman was expected to obey Confucian ideal: she belongs in the home and is not allowed to interfere in the men’s realm, and her acceptance of footbinding shows her acceptance of this ideal. Society for Chinese women is in their own house. It is because the women are not allowed to be outside in accordance with Confucian ideal. Confucius tells his follower that “’A woman PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 35 should never be heard outside her own home.’” Jackson, p. 16 To be obedient is a manner she should do while to be a woman who never thinks interfering men’s business is a thought they already have. Another social function found in the novel is that footbinding is a motivation for the women to fulfill themselves as members of their society. It is called a motivation because footbinding led them to be accepted as a true lady. If they have a pair of big feet, they are considered as similar to a maid or the lowest- ranked woman in the household. Of course, a mother wants good things for her daughter so she binds her daughter’s feet. Meanwhile, a girl must also have a dream of a good future and what she will look like then. Therefore, the mother supports her daughter to succeed in enduring the pain of footbinding. “A true lady lets no ugliness into her life,” she repeated again and again, drilling the words to me. “Only through pain will you have beauty. Only through suffering will you find peace. I wrap, I bind, but you will have the reward.” See, p. 38 By the quotation above, Lily’s mother supports Lily to survive though she has to suffer a lot. Lily’s mother gives her a view that she will have precious things if she is able to pass it. Beauty, peace, and reward having a good marriage and having sons are a dream offered by Lily’s mother. These things become a motivation for Lily in reaching her future later. As an ordinary girl, she wants a bright future. She wants to have a husband who comes from a good family, have sons that will make her mother-in-law proud of her, and later she will be the lady of the household. Not only in the household, may she also become the lady of the village. 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b. Women’s Secret Writing in the Novel