Sepia Saturday 114 The Agony of De Feet

This post was written by Nancy:

When the theme for this week came up and it was "shoes", all I could think of were the lovely little shoes of the Chinese women. They were embroidered in beautiful colors, and oh, so petite.

But wait a minute. No one's feet could be that small. How did they fit into these gorgeous little shoes? Well, I suppose we all know now that their feet were bound in childhood, by wrapping and squishing until they were the proper size to fit into those little torture chambers.

When my sister and I were traveling in China way back in the 80s, we actually saw women with bound feet, even though the practice, thank goodness, had been outlawed in 1949. I doubt if there are too many more of these women hobbling along in misery.

Now who in the world came up with that idea? I'd love to know who that first person was (probably some emperor), who said "take her away, her feet are too big!" And then the binding started. If you're interested, this is a bit of information about the practice: foot binding 

It's usually men who come up with these tortuous beauty decisions. And then the women who want to please the men say to themselves "O.K., beauty knows no pain" and they follow right along and wear some pretty ridiculous footwear. 

Currently, the trend in tortuous footwear is reaching new heights (so to speak). And women are just falling (so to speak) for these new torture chambers. Here's some fine examples.

   

Have we really come so far from the days of that emperor and the binding of feet? Cmon women, are you crazy? You would actually wear these "designer" shoes?

Even experienced runway models who are used to wearing ridiculous designer get ups can't manage with these shoes. Here's my point, watch this:



And here's the thing. If you wear these, you're going to fall down and break a leg or an arm or a spine or something. These aren't safe, they're not sensible. Sure they make your legs look longer, but what good is that when one of your legs is in a cast?

Look for other Sepia Saturday stories by clicking here http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/.

Diva's weekly Zentangle challenge #59- Mardi Gras

Diva weekly Zentangle challenge # 58- Diamonds

The Four Diamonds Fund was started by Charles and Irma Millard after their son, Christopher, lost his 3 year battle with cancer in 1972.  Symbolic of the traits Christopher felt were needed to defeat cancer, he wrote a story in which the knight Sir Millard overcomes obstacles to achieve the four diamonds of Courage, Wisdom, Honesty and Strength.

To see more Diamond Zentangles go to http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/ 

Helen Shafer Garcia demonstrates water color/pastel

At the Fallbrook Art Assoc. meeting Monday night Helen demonstrated painting with a combination of watercolor and pastel. I'm also taking her class in this at the Art Center.

My work in progress.

 

       This was a poured paint technique with the pastels added on top.

I'm off to class now to see what to do next. Or for just a critique.

Cartoons

Diva's weekly Zentangle challenge #57- Sanibelle

Sepia Saturday- Tar Baby

The theme this week is Dogs.

This is Tar Baby. (I love the little curl on top of his head!)

This is the earliest dog I can remember, although my mother has told me about a beagle we had when I was a baby. Tar Baby was named after a character from The Uncle Remus book by Joel Chandler Harris.

Br'er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, drawing by E.W. Kemble from The Tar-Baby, by Joel Chandler Harris, 1904.

Me and Tar Baby

My sister, Nancy and I and Tar Baby. (I'm not really sure that's Nancy. Hard to tell from this photo.)

My father and the pup.

Tar Baby sitting up. What a smart dog!

My brother, Bob and Tar Baby.

In this picture you can see the gate that was left open and cost Tar Baby his life. ( Bobby didn't do it).

We loved the Uncle Remus stories from the story books and then from the Disney movie, "Song of the South".
I've, since, found out that the Uncle Remus stories and the name "Tar Baby" is sometimes considered racist. If my mother had known that we would have had to find a new name. She was the most unprejudiced person I've ever known.

In one tale, Br'er Fox constructs a doll out of a lump of tar and dresses it with some clothes. When Br'er Rabbit comes along he addresses the tar "baby" amiably, but receives no response. Br'er Rabbit becomes offended by what he perceives as the Tar Baby's lack of manners, punches it, and in doing so becomes stuck. The more Br'er Rabbit punches and kicks the tar "baby" out of rage, the worse he gets stuck. Now that Br'er Rabbit is stuck, Br'er Fox ponders how to dispose of him. The helpless but cunning Br'er Rabbit pleads, "but do please, Brer Fox, don't fling me in dat brier-patch," prompting Fox to do exactly that. As rabbits are at home in thickets, the resourceful Br'er Rabbit escapes. Using the phrases "but do please, Brer Fox, don't fling me in dat brier-patch" and "tar baby" to refer to the idea of "a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it" became part of the wider culture of the United States in the mid-20th century. The story was originally published in Harper's Weekly by Robert Roosevelt; years later Joel Chandler Harris wrote of the tar baby in his Uncle Remus stories. A similar tale from African folklore in West Africa has the trickster Anansi in the role of Br'er Rabbit.

If you'd like to see Uncle Remus singing "Zipp-a-dee-doo-dah" click here-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcxYwwIL5zQ

Don't forget to go to http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com to see more dog stories.