Response to "Ridding China of Bad Customs"

[Sara Newman]

I found the collection of primary source documents in "Ridding China of Bad Customs" really interesting. The argumentation style for the arguments about footbining and an end to indentured maids reminded me a lot of the types of arguments presented by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and other American suffragettes. I was especially interested in the suggestion from the anti-footbinding society that, "By helping other people's daughters learn, one also helps one's own wife because only after women's education has been popularized can the foundations of a marriage be solid." I really like how the society draws the connection between social pressure to mutilate one's body to ensure marriageability and family status and access to quality education for people regardless of sex. I was really excited to see that over a century ago, the authors of the text were arguing that men would benefit from having more educated wives and that a marriage of greater education equality and personal capacity leads to greater marital happiness for both parties. This seems to be a very logial yet progressive idea. How common was this idea or other ideas about the importance/value of women's education at the time?