Shoes For Bound Feet (Image obtained from WikiMedia Commons)

Women have spent thousands of years trying to be as beautiful as possible.  Sometimes, they’ll even go to the extreme of causing themselves pain in order to appear beautiful.  In today’s society, we women wear shoes that hurt our feet, but make us look gorgeous.  But, ours is not the only society to have done this.

Since the 7th century AD, Chinese women practiced the art of foot binding.  In essence, they wrapped their feet in such a way as to make them as small as possible.  There are many legends as to why this was done, including the idea that men found them to be erogenous.  Experts believe the real reason was so men could better control their wives.  It wasn’t until the early 20th century that this practice was outlawed.

Women aren’t the only ones who cause themselves injury in hopes of attracting the opposite sex.  Men have also been known to wear painful items as a sign of their virility.  Probably the most famous comes from the mid 16th century and was known as the Codpiece.  There is evidence that men wore codpieces as far back as the Minoan civilization.  However, it was in the 1500’s that they were worn as a true covering.  Yet, over time they became exaggerated and over padded.  Rather than cover themselves, they drew more attention to themselves.
Most codpieces were made from a piece of metal, then covered and padded with material. They were kept in place by being tied to the wearer. They could cause chafing and sores, due to over heating and lack of hygienic issues. Codpieces worn today are made from more pliable materials, such as leather, and are much more comfortable.

The need to be seen as beautiful is timeless. Men and women will always work toward finding new ways to stand out in the eyes of others. For many, the pain of being attractive will never compete with the pain of not being noticed at all.