Chinese Foot Binding Ethics
Madelyn Deal
Ethics from a Global Perspective
Dr. Robert Scott
27 April 2017
Chinese Foot Binding
For many years, Chinese foot binding was a way to show that a woman was wealthy and beautiful. If you did not bind your feet, then you were a poor, hard-working woman who had slim chances of getting married. Women had to go through this painful experience for years, just to show that they were among the elite. Foot binding was a very agonizing experience for girls just to have a good chance of marriage; this process relates to the ethical theories of Kant, Mill, and feminism.
This process of foot binding began when the girl was about five or six (Foreman). Small feet were the equivalent to having a tiny waist in Victorian England; it represented …show more content…
First, deforming one’s body to fit society’s views of beauty goes against rationality and respect for oneself (Introduction to Ethics). Next, since deforming one’s body or beautifying has been taking place for achieving a particular goal, which is to attract or please men and to meet men’s beauty standards, the action done by women is considered as a hypothetical imperative. This is an immoral action, according to Kant, because the action is not done for one’s own sake (Introduction to Ethics). Lastly, the intention was to create beauty standards as a means to make women appealing or pleasing to men’s senses. Man have used women as a means to their end, which is sensual pleasure (Introduction to …show more content…
Considering the views of society, this process can be considered moral; if foot binding creates the greatest happiness for the most people, then it would be considered a moral action (Introduction to Ethics). Mill focused mainly on the Greatest Happiness Principle, which says that actions are considered moral if they promote utility (Introduction to Ethics). Women suffered through the binding of their feet for the greater good of society, which was to please men and get married (Introduction to Ethics). Therefore, if women were doing this action for a good purpose, then it was considered to be
Ethics from a Global Perspective
Dr. Robert Scott
27 April 2017
Chinese Foot Binding
For many years, Chinese foot binding was a way to show that a woman was wealthy and beautiful. If you did not bind your feet, then you were a poor, hard-working woman who had slim chances of getting married. Women had to go through this painful experience for years, just to show that they were among the elite. Foot binding was a very agonizing experience for girls just to have a good chance of marriage; this process relates to the ethical theories of Kant, Mill, and feminism.
This process of foot binding began when the girl was about five or six (Foreman). Small feet were the equivalent to having a tiny waist in Victorian England; it represented …show more content…
First, deforming one’s body to fit society’s views of beauty goes against rationality and respect for oneself (Introduction to Ethics). Next, since deforming one’s body or beautifying has been taking place for achieving a particular goal, which is to attract or please men and to meet men’s beauty standards, the action done by women is considered as a hypothetical imperative. This is an immoral action, according to Kant, because the action is not done for one’s own sake (Introduction to Ethics). Lastly, the intention was to create beauty standards as a means to make women appealing or pleasing to men’s senses. Man have used women as a means to their end, which is sensual pleasure (Introduction to …show more content…
Considering the views of society, this process can be considered moral; if foot binding creates the greatest happiness for the most people, then it would be considered a moral action (Introduction to Ethics). Mill focused mainly on the Greatest Happiness Principle, which says that actions are considered moral if they promote utility (Introduction to Ethics). Women suffered through the binding of their feet for the greater good of society, which was to please men and get married (Introduction to Ethics). Therefore, if women were doing this action for a good purpose, then it was considered to be