Bound Feet and Western Dress

Traditions in Chinese culture are long-rooted and are taken very seriously from generation to generation. However, there must always be room for modern change in order for society to grow and strive across the globe. In Bound Feet and Western Dress the conflict between Chinese traditions and modern change arises. With this conflict it is important to discuss the different meanings of liberation for men and women and they way in which Chang Yu-I was able to obtain liberation throughout her life. Liberation in China means two different things for a man and a woman because of the gender differences that are prevalent. In traditional China women are treated unequally and are simply seen as a piece of property to their husband. They must abide by his demands and remain a slave to his family and traditions. As Yu-I told her niece, “You must remember this. In China, a woman is nothing." For a Chinese man, liberation means becoming stronger, more powerful, and of higher prestige. While with a Chinese woman, liberation means being equal to that of a man and being able to live a life on her own terms rather than that of her husband’s.

Liberation for a woman is more about being independent and being treated like she is of importance in this society. Traditionally, women are seen to be child-bearers and that is their main role in any marriage. For example, the woman is really only seen to be useful in that she can bare children for her husband, and even at that, the husband wishes that the child be male so that the family name and traditions may be carried on. If the child born is a female than she is seen to be of no use to their family because she will eventually become the property of her husband, his family, and traditions. A woman’s liberation is far different from a man’s because of the old Chinese traditions that have been established for generations.

Chang Yu-I understood woman’s liberation as the tool for changing the Chinese culture. It was about a woman becoming her own person rather than the property of a man whom she must cherish under every circumstance. Yu-I believed that a woman’s liberation was in finding her own independence and strength in Chinese society. Not only is it about a woman being her own person, it is also about her having equality to men. Yu-I’s views on liberation come from the knowledge she has gained about traditional China and the stories involved in it. Instead of becoming a basis to live her life, they became a tool she used to question and learn. Yu-I grew up with parents that had a mind-set that began her journey to achieve liberation.

Throughout her experiences Chang Yu-I was able to achieve liberation from the traditional Chinese customs that enslaved woman. The reason that she was able to achieve this liberation is through the people that surrounded her. The first step to her liberation from the Chinese tradition began when her mother and amah (caretaker) first started to bind her feet at the extremely young age of three. On the fourth morning her brother stopped them because of the pain he could see Yu-I going through; this was the beginning of implementing