Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, Vol. 2 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

thirteen feet long and wind it tightly around the foot,

repeatedly folding under four toes (leaving the big toe

pointing upward), drawing the heel and toes as close

together as possible, and sewing together the ends of

FOPS

the cloth. Foot binding had three effects: It shortened

The fop was the Enlightenment (1600–1800) forerunner

the length of the foot, reduced the width of the sole, and

of the dandy, a man known for an attention to dress and

reshaped the foot to produce an arched bulge on the

fashion bordering on the absurd. The term originally

instep and a deep crevice under the arch. Foot binding

meant fool, appearing in English as early as 1440; by the

re-formed the foot by bending and stretching its liga-

eighteenth century it signified a vain man who was fool-

ments and tendons, but without breaking the bones.

ishly devoted to his own appearance above all else. The

The shoes women made for themselves and others

stereotype of the fop involved extravagantly expensive

contained rich imagery. Embroidery on the sides of the

clothes made of the finest materials, cut in the latest and

shoes would depict stories or symbols such as the lotus

most daring styles. Fops wore elaborate wigs, makeup, and

flower. Brides to be would make shoes for all their female

shoes, and took every opportunity to display themselves.

in-laws. There were different shoes for weddings, sleep-

Fops were real-life characters as well as theatrical

ing, longevity (blue fabric), and mourning (white or

and literary ones. They were associated with places of

cream fabric). Children’s shoes often had the faces of

public display, such as courts and theaters, so much so that

their birth-year animals on the toes. The bindings and

the center of the pit in opera houses was sometimes called

shoes never came off in front of men, and allowing men

Fop’s alley. Fops were associated with fashion, manners, the

to touch or see nude feet was taboo, resulting in shame

aristocracy, and all things French; Molière’s (1622–1673)

and loss of face. Men considered touching the shoes or

play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme [The would-be gentleman]

covered feet of their wives or concubines erotic.

(1670) is a fop stereotype, a middle-class social climber so

eager to impress his aristocratic friends with his clothes,

dancing, and money that he makes a spectacle of himself.

CONTEMPORARY DEBATE

His attention to dress is so exaggerated that even his own

Recent scholarship remains divided about how to under-

servants are unable to control the violent fits of laughter he stand foot binding in the history of Chinese literature

inspires.

and culture. Scholars differ over how to use one of the

Part of the comedic effect of the fop is that he is a man

primary sources of foot binding oral history, photo-

with no sense of moderation or of his natural station. He is

graphs, poetry, and prose: the five volumes of Caifeilu

a bourgeois who thinks he can be an aristocrat, and is a man

(translated as Records of Gathering Fragrance or Picking

with a woman’s attention to fashion and manners.

Radishes). Those books were edited in the late 1930s by

Repudiating the sober virtues of middle-class masculinity,

Yao Lingxi, who was a self-described lotus addict trying to

he violates boundaries of both class and gender. His minc-

preserve the remnants of a vanishing practice.

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