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Relay Column: Women's Tenacious Resistance with Shoes – From Chinese Foot Binding to Modern Pumps (Aoi Saito)
PROFILE
Aoi Saito
Doctoral student at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University. Special Researcher (DC1) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Her specialties are sociology, modern China studies, and gender and sexuality studies. She is interested in the postpartum recuperation practice in China known as 'Sitting the Month'. Her research, conducted mainly in Shanghai, focuses on the commercialization of postpartum care, the Chinese population policy behind it, and the practice of 'Sitting the Month' among modern Chinese women.
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In graduate school, it's not uncommon to feel anxious due to the uncertainty and solitude. However, I find joy in being able to wear my favorite thick-soled sports sandals to stroll around campus and attend seminars. Had there been an atmosphere at these seminars or research meetings that encouraged wearing heels, I might not have chosen this path.
My friends who work in offices often wear what is termed as 'office casual'. They wear pumps. Like me, my friends don't prefer heels, but due to the unspoken dress code at their workplaces, they had to find comfortable options. Once, I saw a friend buying pumps worth 20,000 yen. Even as I admired her for being able to afford such shoes, she told me, "It's a necessary expense to be seen as a proper adult." She said I should know, considering our long friendship, that her true fashion sense is different. I think she should buy what she wants, but we both understand the complications that can arise from acting too freely.
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