East West Jung |
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Excerpt from Shirley Ma's forthcoming book |
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Footbinding allowed women to enter the phallic order, but as its waste. It reduced the power of women, their natural connection to the Earth, and turned them into crippled slaves. Thus, the patriarchy inculcated in a woman the rejection of herself and her relationship to the Feminine. Cut off from her instinctive feminine self early in life, her identity as a woman was severely damaged by a sense of self-abasement which began with her birth. |
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| Beneath the oppressive feudal ideology and the hierarchy of authorities in the family system, where a woman had to struggle to survive, for her to find her sense of personal identity, she not only had to challenge the political, economic, and social barriers, but she also had to confront the psychological barriers to her emancipation. | ||||||||||||
| Taking on this challenge is by no means an easy task. After thirty centuries of total oppression under the uninterrupted rule of authoritarian collectivism, the fate of an individual destiny, in particular that of a woman, becomes perilous indeed. | ||||||||||||
| In this book, I explore the psychological meaning of footbinding by studying the experiences of modern women who out of necessity confronted their inner realm and took the courage to unravel their "binding cloth." This is the initial step in their identity search. It uncovers the angry, silenced child who can now begin to stand on earth and learn to walk in the "here and now" toward the future. The way will be directed by their own inner promptings as they become increasingly connected with their feelings as women. | ||||||||||||
| Jung conceived of depression as a power which pressed a person down, but out of which one could emerge with new insights and attitudes. Depression leads these women to encounter the dark side of their soul and to redeem their feminine standpoint. In looking into their inner darkness, they also find the courage to be. Their journey initiates them into their womanhood. | ||||||||||||
| My exploration of the psychological meaning of the Golden Lotus is an initial attempt to unravel the "binding cloth" that for centuries has been taboo. The traditional daughter endured the initiation of footbinding to become a (child) bride of the patriarchy. Her career was dictated by the need for survival. The modern woman needs to go through the initiation of "unbinding her feet" in order to find her feminine standpoint and become the true bride. Her career is guided by her need for creative self-expression. | ||||||||||||
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